The Disease
by Nicia
Summary: "Tasha get the message. Dimitri doesn't want you or to be your guardian, and he never will. You're a pathetic woman, who can't get over herself or being rejected. We'll find a cure without your 'help'."  Please read and review. xx
1. Chapter 1

3 yrs after graduation so Rose is 20. In this story Eddie wasn't taken during the attack and Rose didn't come up with the rescue plan – so Dimitri lives!

1. It had been three years since we'd finally graduated from St. Vladimir's and moved to Court. Three years since that devastating attack on the Academy. Three years since the love of my life had chosen me over the woman who could give him everything. Three years, and Tasha_ still_ hadn't got the message that Dimitri didn't, and _wouldn't_, want her.

Every year, Tasha asked him if he'd reconsidered, and wanted to change from being Christian's guardian. And every year, Dimitri told her no. But this year, she hadn't asked. Everyone had breathed a sigh of relief, and thought she'd stopped, but a small voice at the back of my mind told me she wouldn't give up that easily. Maybe I was simply being paranoid, and so I pushed my fears out of my mind and continued with my favourite job in the world – guarding Lissa.

Things hadn't been easy when we'd first moved to Court. There'd been a lot of opposition about me being Lissa's guardian, especially since Dimitri had asked to be reassigned from Lissa to Christian. They'd thought it would be better for Dimitri to guard Lissa, and me to guard Christian, but we had appealed and argued against them, and finally they left us as we were. A few months later, Dimitri and I had come out openly as a couple. There was uproar from all the royals who wanted to use it as another excuse to change Lissa's guardian, but after the first few months when they saw how dedicated we still were, they dropped their complaints. Dimitri and I 'moved in' together, if you could call it that, and with Eddie as Lissa's other guardian, everything seemed to be going well.

_'If anything can go wrong, it will.' –Unknown._

It happened four weeks later. We'd been in the human shopping mall that was closest to Court, and, since I couldn't feel any nausea, I'd allowed myself to relax and enjoy this little bit of free time I had with Lissa. She'd deliberately organized for us to go when my shift was over, claiming she's wanted my opinion without me scanning the room constantly in case of a threat. Of course, this meant Dimitri was on his break too, since we worked the same shifts. It meant we could spend this time walking around holding hands like any other couple, rather than being scrutinized and gossiped about.

Anyway, I'd been in a great mood, which was why I didn't notice the gun until it was too late. Dimitri and I had wandered away from the main group slightly, and thinking no nausea equalled no threat, I hadn't noticed the man. He was human and standing about ten feet away from me. At first I'd thought he was trying to show me something.

_Thump. Thump. Thump.  
_  
I looked down in shock, my hands pressed to my stomach as blood pumped out of the wounds steadily, soaking my jumper and forming a puddle on the floor.

Then I was on the floor. I didn't know how it happened and I was vaguely aware of voices in the background shouting, but I couldn't understand what was happening. I could feel large hands on my stomach and chest, trying to apply pressure and stop the bleeding, and his eyes, filled with tears, were boring into mine – begging me silently to hold on. But my mouth couldn't form the words to reassure him. Desperately, I tried to reach his face, to comfort him with my touch. But my hands only twitched before the darkness became too much and my eyes closed.

A month later:  
I woke suddenly. It was strange to see so much light, shapes and colours after being in the darkness for so long. Then, slowly, my memories resurfaced and I realized I wasn't in the mall anymore. Turning my head to the side, my eyes were met by warm brown ones, filled with a mixture of worry, concern and relief. "Roza," he breathed out, "You're awake." It was then that the dull pain made itself known, in my upper chest and two areas of my stomach.

Focusing back on Dimitri, he had a small, sad smile on his face. "I've called the nurse, so she's going to let the doctor and Lissa know you've woken up. They won't be long." He reached out and stroked my cheek gently. "Thank God you've woken up. I love you so much."

Leaning into his touch, I twined my fingers with his. "I love you too, comrade. I'm sorry."

He looked startled. "Why are you sorry? It wasn't your fault, Roza. We're all so used to watching for Strigoi, we forgot about the risk humans can pose. I'm the one who's sorry – I should have noticed him before it was too late."

Shaking my head slowly, I interrupted him. "We're both to blame then. We both could have, and should have, noticed him earlier. We shouldn't have wandered off so far from the group. We should have done a million different things. But, I'm alive, you're alive, and that's all that matters." I tugged on his arm gently, until he was sitting on the bed next to me so I could kiss his cheek. "I love you, Dimitri Belikov."

Brushing his lips against mine, he murmured, "I love you too, my Roza, so, so much," before kissing me properly.

Before things could get too heated, there was a knock at the door, and the doctor poked his head around. When he saw me sitting up, he came all the way into the room. "Guardian Hathaway, it's good to see you awake. Now, I have to do an assessment of you to make sure you're as well as you can be under the circumstances, both physically and mentally." I nodded and Dimitri kissed me once more before leaving the room. "I'll go and find Princess Vasilisa. I love you."

When the doctor was finished, I looked down at my body and gasped. There were tubes everywhere, along with three thick bandages – one just above my right breast, one in the centre of my stomach and the other slightly to the right. There was also a heart monitor beside my bed, and a crash cart that looked like it had been used often. And to top it all off, I had three IV's attached in various places. One lead to a drip that I assumed was providing me with the nutrients my body needed. The second was attached to a blood bag, and the third appeared to be a catheter. I hadn't realised how badly I'd been injured - which raised the question – why hadn't Lissa healed me?

Just as I thought the question, the door burst open and Lissa entered, followed by Dimitri, Christian, Adrian, Eddie, my _mom_ and Mia.

"Rose!" Lissa screeched before jumping on the bed next to me and enveloping me in a hug. I laughed, and soon everyone else was on the bed too, making it a huge group hug. Finally, they pulled back, and Lissa kissed me on the cheek. "Now tell me why you wouldn't let me heal you."

I looked at her in shock. "What do you mean? I haven't stopped you from doing anything, Liss. I was just about to ask you why you hadn't healed me. I mean, I know you said you can't pick and choose who gets healed and who doesn't, but I can get back to guarding you much more quickly if you did."

Everyone in the room was looking at mean in shock now. "Rose," Lissa began slowly. "I've been trying to heal you every day. But something was stopping me. I thought it was you, because you wouldn't be able to cope with the darkness so soon after you were healed."

"No, I would never block you or your magic, Liss. And I don't mind the darkness – you know that. It can't be helped, that's why I'm your guardian." I smiled at her, hoping she lighten up but instead she was looking at Adrian worriedly and anxiety pulsed through the bond.

He shook his head. "Cousin, she's telling the truth. I can see it in her aura. But she's sick too, not just from the bullets. I can't see what it is though." Now everybody looked confused.

My mom spoke up after a couple of minutes of silence. "We'll go and tell the doctor about this; maybe he's got a theory that explains it all." She stepped over to the bed and hugged me again. "I'm so glad you're awake. It was the worst moment of my life when I received the phone call that said you'd been shot." She kissed my forehead. "Get some rest; I'll come see you in the morning."

Gradually, everyone said their goodbyes, leaving me and Dimitri.

Linking my fingers with his, he sat back against the headboard and I leant against his chest. We talked for a long while, and he told me about everything that had happened while I'd been in the coma. Apparently, they'd caught the man who'd shot me, but when questioning him, they found out he'd been compelled. He had no idea who he was working for, and only knew that he'd been ordered to injure – not kill me. That was what had been bothering and worrying everyone at Court, the fact that a vampire had held some part in it. They couldn't find a motive behind the attack, and shooting me in the stomach wouldn't prevent me from guarding again like getting shot in the leg might. If they were after Lissa, the only chance they'd get was while I was healing, which wouldn't be too long.

My theory was that Tasha was behind it. After three years, I couldn't believe she'd give up that easily, but again, there was no clear motive. Why would she hire someone to wound me, rather than kill me so she could persuade Dimitri without me being in the way? The logic didn't fit, but I still told Dimitri my suspicions. Surprisingly, he shared my view. But even between us, we couldn't find a way that would link Tasha. Sighing, I rested my head against his chest, his heartbeat lulling me into sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you to; gracefish21, DarkRomanceAddict, Crazy Runner, IloveCeci, Katherine-Rose-Rulz, DimitrixXxLover and Aiko no Kaze for reviewing, adding me to thier faves list or adding me to their alerts list. And a extra special shout out to snowdrop0594 for doin all 5 of them. Thank you so much! xx**

Disclaimer: I don't own Vampire Academy or any of its characters.

2. Three months later:

I had completely healed from my wounds; the only signs that I'd ever been shot were the three small dips in my stomach and chest, each no bigger then a penny that showed where the bullets had entered my body.

But something else was wrong. I'd been getting tired and breathless easily, and after I'd finished my daily practice, there was an ache in my bones that made it hard to find the will power to walk back to my room. I was good at hiding the changes from Lissa and even Dimitri, but on several occasions I'd caught sight of Adrian watching me worriedly. The concern on his face frightened me with the thought of what he might be seeing in my aura.

Luckily, I bumped into him on the way to dinner one evening. We were all supposed to be meeting at Christian and Lissa's to celebrate their engagement, and for once I was early. Not wanting to pass up this opportunity, I pulled Adrian over to one of the benches on the sidewalk. "Little dhampir! Are you on your way over to see the lovebirds and gush about what's sure to be the wedding of the century?"

I laughed at his sulky tone of voice before adopting a more serious tone. "I am, Adrian, but first I needed to talk to you about something." He waggled his eyebrows suggestively and I smacked his arm. "What I mean is, why do you keep checking my aura? I told you and everyone else, the doctor said I'm fine, and all healed up. So why do you look so worried?"

Obviously, this wasn't what he'd been expecting me to say. In a low voice, he replied, "I don't think this is the time or place for us to discuss this, Rose. Can we meet tomorrow?"

But I stood my ground. "No. Adrian, tell me right now. I want to know so I can deal with it – waiting an extra day isn't going to help."

Something in my face must have shown I wasn't going to take no for an answer because he sighed deeply. "Fine, _fine_. Rose, you say you're okay but I know you aren't, and that's why I'm concerned. I check your aura constantly to see if there's a change and there is, but it's only for the worse. Before, your aura was normal, with the shadows around the edges; but now it's tinged a dull dingy yellow which represents caution, decay, and sickness. It's _not_ from the bullet wounds, Rose. I think it's whatever blocked Lissa's healing, but I can't be sure. And Dimitri's noticed too; in fact, he's the reason I've been looking so much. You need to talk to him, Rose – he's worried about you, but he thinks you're just holding back while you readjust to guarding."

Shocked at his outburst, I plastered a fake smile on my face. "I'm sure you're overreacting." He opened his mouth to argue, but I shook my head. "But, I'll go to see the doctor, and I'll tell Dimitri. Now come on, I don't want Lissa screaming at me 'cause I'm late." If I was honest with myself, Adrian's words had scared me. They'd made my fear real – that something huge was wrong with me.

Two weeks later:  
It had been two weeks since my conversation with Adrian, and true to my word, I'd told Dimitri about my worries and been to see the doctor. Now the results of my tests had come back, which was why I sat with Adrian and Dimitri in the Court hospital while the doctor regarded me seriously.

"Guardian Hathaway. It seems your worries were not without good reason. The results show that you are in fact ill, but it's like nothing we've ever come across. At first, we thought you'd contracted HIV or the AIDS virus, but upon closer examination of your blood samples we found this wasn't the case. We then thought you were suffering from Acute Myeloid Leukaemia, but that, too, proved to be wrong. The conclusion we reached in the end was that you have somehow contracted an illness that is symptomatic of these two diseases, but completely new. We don't know how it will progress and we're trying to find some way to combine the two treatments to create a cure. However, we have no way of knowing if they will work or how effective they will be. All I can suggest at this moment in time is that you reduce your work hours and try to avoid as much stress as possible. We'll let you know straight away if we have any success. I'm very sorry, Guardian Hathaway. Please feel free to come and talk with me or any of the other doctors if you have any questions."

_'Time is free, but it's priceless. You can't own it, but you can use it. You can't keep it, but you can spend it. Once you've lost it, you can never get it back.' –Harvey Mackay._

It had been a long year. My condition had improved, but only because they had finally developed a treatment for me. It wasn't a cure, and the doctors weren't very confident that they would ever find one, but it eased my illness and made it easier for me to continue as Lissa's main guardian. I had my bad days where I suffered from muscle aches, headaches, fatigue and shortness of breath, which were the similarities between my illness and HIV, as well as days when I suffered from the AML symptoms such as infections, bruising and bleeding more easily, and pain in my bones and joints. When this happened, I usually had to take a week off to recover fully so I wouldn't be a liability to Lissa's safety. But after a few days' bed rest and plenty of immunity-boosting foods I was good to start again. My suspicions had also been confirmed – Tasha was the mastermind behind my shooting.

*FLASHBACK.*

Everyone was assembled in my room ready to hear what they had presumed would be good news about me feeling unwell. Lissa was bubbling with excitement because she thought that I might have been pregnant. She wasn't quite sure how it would have happened between me and Dimitri, but she was hopeful. Sitting on my bed looking at their expectant faces, I felt my resolve to stay strong crumble, and I sobbed into Dimitri's arms. Over my cries I could hear him explaining to the others what the doctor had said.

When I had finished crying, I found that everyone had left except for Lissa and Adrian, who were sitting at my computer. While Dimitri changed his shirt they showed me what they'd been researching. It was a lot of articles and reports on HIV; how to live with it, the treatments available and the precautions I'd need to take. "I know it's not HIV you're suffering from, Rose, but I thought it would still be useful to know more about it, seeing as your illnesses are kind of similar. It might help you to cope a bit better." Seeing the information made me feel better, and once Dimitri came back, we decided to look up some information on AML. As we found a site that looked quite good, the computer froze.

At first nothing happened, and then the screen changed to show an extravagantly decorated room, in which sat Tasha Ozera. Beside me, Dimitri stiffened, and when she smiled my hands curled into fists. She'd laughed when she saw this and began to speak.

"Well Dimka, I know it's a lot later than I usually ask, but I was wondering if you'd changed your mind yet?" Something about the way she spoke made my skin crawl, especially as she grinned when Dimitri shook his head. "Well that's too bad. I kind of hoped you'd have figured it out by now; but I guess you're not as smart as I gave you credit for." Her gaze turned hard. "Now here's what I want you to do. Leave Rose, and get yourself reassigned as my guardian. If you don't, Rose_ will_ die."

Dimitri growled at her. "If you so much as think of laying a finger on Rose, I _will_ hunt you down and kill you Tasha."

"Oh no you won't, Dimka. Because I have what you need – the cure to Rose's illness. I gave it to her, and I'm the only one who can take it away."

This was when I spoke up. "Tasha, get the message. Dimitri doesn't want you or to be your guardian, and he never will. You're a pathetic bitch, who can't get over herself or being rejected. We'll find a cure without your 'help'. Don't get in touch with any of us, ever again. I hope you burn in hell for all the crap you've put us through. But congratulations, it's only made us stronger." Feeling extremely self-satisfied, I sat back and enjoyed watching the fury play across her features.

"You'll need me soon enough, Rosemarie." She spat out my name. "Once you start to suffer, you'll beg for my help. But don't worry, you'll see me soon enough."

And the computer clicked off.

*END FLASHBACK.*

**Thank you Crazy Runner for all your reviews to my story Fool For You : ) I did get the song lyrics; but atm I'm finding it a bit hard to find the right scene and the inspiration. But hopefully, it'll be up by the end of the week!**


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy, its characters or content.

3. Guardians all over the world were on the look out for Tasha, but so far, she'd been able to evade capture. No one had seen her since the day of my shooting, and they'd seen her in Morocco, so she could be hidden anywhere by now.

It had also taken a long time for me to let Dimitri in. News of my illness had been leaked somehow, and it wasn't long before everyone at Court knew about it. But they weren't as understanding as my friends and family had been. Seeing all the Moroi, royal or not, and even some of the guardians look at me with disgust and even hatred clearly in their eyes chipped away at my self esteem, and I'd pushed Dimitri away in an effort to protect his reputation. I didn't want him to suffer the isolation like I was. But he stuck by me; despite all my attempts. When I screamed at him to leave, he stayed; when I froze him out, he gave me space and support; when I lashed out, he caught my fists and soothed me; and when I cried, he held me. He was my rock, but there was one thing I hadn't been able to do until recently.

*FLASHBACK.*

It had been 6 months since I'd been diagnosed, and the medicine they currently had me on seemed to be working much better than the previous trials. Dimitri and I had struggled through the whispers and gossiping of the residents at Court, and he was helping me to rebuild the confidence I'd lost. But I still refused to kiss him outside of our room; where there was a chance we could be seen. No matter how many times he proved to me that he didn't care what they thought, I couldn't do that to him. So hand holding was the maximum he would get, kissing stayed in the safety of our room. The other thing I refused to do was to have sex.

The doctor had told me that I definitely didn't have HIV or any other type of STI, but I still wasn't willing to take the risk of infecting Dimitri, especially as there was no cure. He understood, but I could see the need in his eyes when he looked at me, and feel it in his hands when he held me. This was another reason I told him to leave. It wasn't fair to make him stay celibate just because I was. But he refused to listen, telling me that he was willing to wait forever, so long as he was with me.

_'Sex is more than an act of pleasure, it's the ability to be able to feel so close to a person, so connected, so comfortable, that it's almost breathtaking to the point you feel you can't take it. And at this moment you're a part of them.' - Unknown.  
_  
(M rated part starts here. If you don't want to read it scroll down until it says *END FLASHBACK*)

I really don't know what made me do it. Maybe it was that my own needs building up had reached breaking point, but I couldn't hold back any longer. When Dimitri came in after his shift and kissed me, I linked my arms around his neck, pulling him closer so I could deepen the kiss. I could feel his shock, as usually I avoided contact and definitely never started anything, but immediately, his hands cupped my bum to lift me up, and I eagerly wrapped my legs round his waist, wanting to be as close to him as possible.

Taking me into the bedroom, my fingers yanked at his shirt, popping the buttons; and before I knew it, both our shirts and trousers where lying in a crumpled heap on the floor. I was clutching him to me, and his lips were moving with mine, kissing me with such passion and heat I thought I'd melt. It was only when his hands left my hips and unclasped my bra that I realised what was happening. Gasping, I pulled away, jerking my legs from around his waist. But his arms circled me, keeping me pressed against his chest as he stared into my eyes.

"Roza, please. I don't understand why you pulled back. You're blocking me out again, and I don't know why." It broke my heart to hear the pain in his voice.

"Because I can't do this to you. You've already risked so much to be with me, to stay with me. I can't take your life too," I whispered, and his eyes filled with understanding as he leaned in and kissed me long and deeply.

"I already told you Roza, I don't care. The doctor said it's not HIV and it's not contracted in the same way HIV is, and even if it was, I still wouldn't care. I love you, Rose, and I need you. In both senses of the word."

And that was when I understood why he hadn't left. Why he hadn't ever gone with another woman who was willing to satisfy his needs. He needed me, and like always, he'd put aside his wants to give me the support I needed. It was my turn to support him and show him how much I loved him. Which was the reason why I curled my fingers into his hair and pulled him back towards me.

This kiss was fierce and lust-driven. I was barely aware of the fact our underwear had been removed; all I could focus on was him, the sensations he was bringing out in me and the love we were creating. Once we were both naked, we moved towards each other, as if in a frenzy, and my legs wound themselves around his waist once more as he rolled me onto my back. Breaking the kiss, I felt him bury his head in my shoulder as he entered me, and I cried out at how good it felt. With the same passion from before, we began to move together, gently rocking until it changed into something smooth and sweet as our climax grew nearer. I heard Dimitri cry out; the noise muffled by my shoulder, and with that sound of pure happiness I fell over the edge to join him.

*END FLASHBACK.*

Even though I was steady at the moment, the doctors thought that a change in climate might help me improve further. Since no one had suffered from my condition before, a lot of the things they were trying out were being recorded. So we'd decided to go to Russia for three months. It would allow the doctors to log how the different climate helped, and it would give Dimitri the chance to see his family for the first time in six years. Also, it would give me the chance to get away from the watchful eye of the Courts, which seemed to think that my illness was a cover for the fact that I'd cheated on Dimitri and contracted HIV. They shunned me because they didn't understand, and Dimitri wasn't treated much better because he'd chosen to stay with me. When this happened I simply remembered a line from a book I'd read_: 'Fear and bigotry are bred from isolation and ignorance.'_ Yep, it would be good to get away for a while.

The goodbyes were brief but heartfelt. The longest one was Lissa's because we kept on hugging forever. I really didn't want to leave and go without her, but I knew I had to. Gently, I pulled away. "Liss, I'll call you as soon as I get there. And every morning and evening, okay? Plus, I'll write to you and there's email I can use. I'm pretty sure they have internet in the wilderness that is Russia." Hearing my comment, Dimitri chuckled and continued to carry our bags onto the plane. Giving Lissa one last hug and kiss on the cheek, I waved at everyone else and ran up the steps of the plane to take my seat.

_'There are only two emotions in a plane: boredom and terror.' -Orson Welles._

The flight was long and uneventful. I slept for most of the journey, and luckily, the ghosts stayed away. Because of my illness, the doctors wanted me to be travelling as little as possible; so they arranged for one of the Court jets to fly us straight to a private airport on the outskirts of Baia. From there they had a rental car for us to drive to his mother's house and use for the next three months.

In the car, I couldn't sleep. I was too nervous and worried with thoughts that Dimitri's family wouldn't accept me, or maybe they'd think I wasn't good enough for him. He had told his mother about my illness a couple of months before we had left, and though he had told me that she would explain to the rest of his family, I was still scared. I didn't want to be treated like I was in Court, but more so, I didn't want Dimitri to be treated like an outcast in his own home. It wouldn't be fair for him to suffer here too, it should be a time for him to relax and have fun.

We arrived early in the morning, and since Dimitri's family lived in a dhampir commune, they worked on a diurnal schedule. This meant that as we pulled up to the house, there were already people walking on the streets, and through the windows you could see people moving around inside the house. Sensing my discomfort, Dimitri reached over and squeezed my hand. "Don't worry, Roza. They will love you and accept you. They know how much we love each other – they'll understand." I nodded, but still felt nervous. Taking a deep breath as Dimitri rang the bell; I got ready to meet his family.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy, its characters or content.

Huge thank you to lilmissryry for her amazing beta-reading! xx

4. "Dimka!"

The door was flung open and Dimitri was pulled into a hug by four screaming women, all of whom were babbling to him in rapid Russian at the same time. I stood back, wanting to give them some privacy, so I was surprised when I felt a tug on my arm. I looked down into a pair of eyes that were exactly the same as Dimitri's, except these ones were set in the face of a much older woman. She looked to be around seventy, with a face that was wrinkled, but still seemed strong. When she saw that she had my attention, she nodded. "Yes. You are the one I have dreamed of so often. The one I prayed Dimitri would find, and with you find his home." Then, just as abruptly, she let go and went back into the house.

Watching her leave as suddenly as she'd appeared, I felt five pairs of eyes watching me. Dimitri had a huge smile on his face, yet the other four seemed shocked. Still smiling, Dimitri moved over to me, wrapping an arm around my waist as we turned to face the four women I presumed were his mother and three sisters. "Mama, this is my Roza. Roza, this is my mother Olena, and my sisters; Karolina, Sonya and Viktoria. I see you just met my grandmother Yeva."

He gestured to each of them in turn, and hearing Yeva's name seemed to grab their attention again. Olena came forward with her arms outstretched, and hugged me warmly. "Welcome, Roza. I'm so glad we finally get to meet you. Dimitri talks about you constantly in his letters and phone calls." Pulling back, she kissed me gently on the cheek, but before I had a chance to reply, two sets of arms grabbed me into a bone crushing hug.

"Omigod! You're _the_ Rose Hathaway. We've heard loads about you, from Dimitri and at school! You're a legend, you-"

Laughing, the other woman cut her off. "Okay Viktoria, give her some room to breathe."

Smiling, I realised the two women must have been Viktoria and Karolina; Dimitri's youngest and eldest sisters. Now the only person I hadn't met was Sonya. Looking around, I saw her standing by the door, arms crossed and a frown across her face. Stepping forward to shake her hand, she stepped back, disgust staining her features. "Don't you dare come near me. You're a filthy diseased slut, and Dimitri's a fool for staying with you. Keep away from my daughter too." She stalked back into the house, leaving the five of us outside, shocked.

Stumbling, I stepped backwards, ready to run to the car and drive until I was back at the airport. I'd known something was going to go wrong, and now that it had, I didn't want to cause any more rifts between their family.

A pair of strong arms wrapped tightly round my waist and I was spun to face Dimitri. "No, Roza, don't you dare blame this on yourself. You're staying here, and Sonya will just have to deal with it." His tone of voice was calm, but I could feel the tension in his arms and see the anger in his eyes.

Quietly, I said, "I don't want to upset her anymore, Dimitri. This is supposed to be time for you to relax with your family and catch up. I don't want to ruin that."

Gently, he stroked my cheek. "You won't ruin it. I wouldn't want to be here without you, it's been a long time overdue that you meet them. Come on, we both need to sleep off the jet lag." Kissing me lightly on the lips, he took my hand and led me inside the house.

The first few weeks with the Belikov's were uneventful. I felt like a member of the family, and helped out whenever I could. Even though Olena would chide and fuss, telling me to sit down and relax, it felt nice to be part of a family, helping out with normal everyday life. Helping her to make dinner, clean the house, or look after Zoya helped ease my guilt. Sonya refused to stay in a room if I came in, and had taken to eating in her room with her daughter or waiting until I had left the dinner table, before joining her family; and I hated the tension I was creating between them all. Still, they constantly proved to me that they weren't going to give in to Sonya's protests, and continued to treat me like I was one of them. It was the same when walking around the little town running errands for Olena. Everyone smiled genuinely or said hello to me - the community was very close, and since nobody knew I was ill, I was treated like a member of Dimitri's family. It was nice to be accepted again, by people other than my friends.

Because I wouldn't be at Court for three months, they had given me a stronger version of my pills. I had to take them twice a day, at 9am and again at 5pm. If I missed my doses, my condition began to deteriorate; and I'd have to have an intense course of chemotherapy, which sucked. So when I woke up one morning, and couldn't find my pills I began to panic. Dimitri usually woke 15 minutes before I did, would kiss my face until I woke up, and then make breakfast in the time it took for me to shower and dress.

But because I was panicking, I forgot about breakfast. It had been an hour and I still couldn't find my pills. The entire house had been searched, and I could feel the fatigue beginning to take effect as I slumped against the doorframe. This disease was aggressive, and I knew if I didn't have my emergency medication, which had also disappeared, I'd relapse completely.

It was just after one in the afternoon, and none of my pills had been found. I didn't want Dimitri's family to worry, but I could see the concerned looks they were shooting me as I sat at the kitchen table. I was debating over whether to ring Lissa or not; I didn't want to kick up a fuss, only to find them five minutes later, and I knew if I told her something was wrong she'd want me to go back. I'd already called her that morning, but she'd been full of chatter about her wedding, and I didn't want to ruin her mood so I hadn't told her.

After another hour, the fatigue had set in properly, and my joints were starting to ache. I was trying to cover up how badly I'd been hurting, but Dimitri caught me trying and failing to push myself up from the table. In a flash, he'd scooped me up in his arms and laid me down on the sofa, despite my protests.

"Roza, you need medical attention now. Stop arguing with me and rest." Turning his back on me he dialled Christian's number. "Hello? Yes, Lord Ozera, it's me, Guardian Belikov." There was a pause as Christian talked. "Yes, Russia's fine but I need to ask you if you're in Court at the moment. Could you please go to Rose's doctor, and tell him that her pills have gone missing? We haven't been able to find them all day and we need him to send her an emergency packet by tonight." Another pause. "Yes please, if you could call me back as soon as possible. Thank you. Bye."

Turning back to me, I could see the relief across his face. "Christian's going to see the doctor straightaway and he'll ring me back with as much information as possible." He draped a blanket over me. "For now, the best we can do is to keep looking and to keep you as strong as possible. That means no running around after Zoya or Paul when he gets back from school. Don't scowl at me like that Roza, at the moment we have to do what we did when you were first diagnosed."

I was cut off from replying by the sound of his cell phone ringing. "Belikov. What did the doctor say?" I couldn't hear what Christian was saying, but from Dimitri's expression, it wasn't something good. "Well how soon can the doctor get here?" A pause as Christian talked some more, but this time he was cut off by Dimitri. "Three days isn't good enough, Christian! She needs treatment now, by the morning at the latest. Why can't they just send the medication on a jet?" His expression turned furious at the reply. "Why is the queen getting involved? She doesn't want to waste resources _unnecessarily_? Fine. What advice did the doctor give? Okay, call me if there's any news. Bye." Sighing, Dimitri sat on the floor next to me. "I'm sorry, Roza. Apparently, the queen won't let the doctor fly a jet out to Russia, just to give you some replacement medication. The doctor can't come for another three days because he's booked to perform some sort of surgery which can't be rescheduled. The only advice he has is to stay in bed until they can get to you, and to keep everything as sterilised as possible, since you're now at risk of picking up an infection."

As he finished speaking, the front door opened and Paul came into the room. Seeing me on the sofa, he ran over and kissed me on the cheek. "What's wrong, Aunty Rose?"

I gave him a small smile and patted the space next to me so he could sit. "I'm okay, Paul, I just feel a little bit unwell. Did your mum explain that I wasn't very well before I arrived?"

He nodded and frowned. "Yeah, but you were okay yesterday. Is it because Aunty Sonya had your pills this morning?" Kissing me on the cheek, he sighed, "I have to do my homework now so I can play out with my friends. I'll see you at dinner!" before leaving the room, not realising that Dimitri and I had frozen.

Wow. I hadn't realised Sonya hated me that much that she was willing to go to all that trouble. She must have snuck in early this morning to avoid getting caught, but I bet she wasn't expecting Paul to see. Well I wasn't going to give her the satisfaction of seeing me like this.

"Dimitri." He wasn't listening to me. "Dimitri!"

His attention snapped back to me, and I stroked his cheek soothingly. "Don't get angry. That's what she wants, for us to argue, and to split your family even more. I'm not going to give her the satisfaction and you shouldn't either." I kissed his mouth gently. "The doctor will be here in a few days, I can wait that long. Promise me you won't do anything."

Holding his gaze he nodded. "I promise Roza, but if she even hints at it, I can't say that I'll be able to keep my self control."

I grinned, "Neither can I."


	5. Chapter 5

Thank you to; gracefish21, DarkRomanceAddict, Crazy Runner, IloveCeci, Katherine Rose Rulz, DimitrixXxLover, Aiko no Kaze, snowdrop0594, GoldenIvy, Badass Hathaway, lulumarie02, RoseElla, Vampire Crazz, Happy Endings Addict, iloveyoudimitri, rivereq, LittleDhampir123, PeaceRoseG'ladheon and JennyTran195 for adding my story to their faves/ alerts lists and for reviewing. And also to lilmissryry for her amaing beta reading!

Crazy Runner; your reviews always make me giggle, lol Rose should deffo punch Sonya; but atm she's too weak :'( maybe later though :D

I'm back to school tomorrow guys :( so I'll still try and review everyday; but the times that I post might be a bit erratic, sorry! And I hope you like this chapter! xx

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy, its characters or content.**

5. Dimitri POV  
The next three days were torture. It was sickening to think that my sister had done this to Rose. She knew how much I loved Roza; she'd been the one I'd talked to when I first realized I was falling in love, the one who had convinced me to do everything possible to stay with her. Ironic, really, that she was now the one trying to split us up. But more frightening than the fact my sister had done this was watching Rose regress so quickly. Even when the doctors first diagnosed her condition, before they made her medicine, she was never this bad.

The first day without her pills, the fatigue set in; and I could see from the way she held herself that the pain was starting to take effect. The second day she developed a fever. During the day she shivered with cold, and at night she burnt up with the heat. But the third day was the worst. She was exhausted, too tired to move, and the fever didn't help. She couldn't eat either; she was sick repeatedly, dry heaving when there wasn't anything in her stomach. Even though I'd been ringing the hospital constantly, there'd been no change; and there was nothing the hospital here in Baia could do. Rose wasn't strong enough to travel, and they weren't willing to come to us. All we could do was wait.

Everyone else apart from Sonya were suffering too. They all saw Rose as part of the family, and being unable to help her made them feel like they had failed in some way. Even my mum's medicines couldn't help. They brought her temporary relief from the pain and fever, but once it wore off, they'd come back even stronger and she'd cry out in agony.

Which meant we were all excited when mum answered the door, and we heard the sound of someone with an American accent. The doctor had arrived!

Rose POV  
I'd been lying on the bed, too tired to do anything when I heard the voices of the family. They were raised with excitement, and from what I could hear, it sounded like a visitor. I strained my hearing, trying to distinguish the individual voices when Dimitri burst into the room. "Roza, the doctor's here!"

As soon as the doctor saw me, he began to dish out instructions to Olena and Dimitri. Pretty soon I was hooked up to a couple of IV's that had some soluble form of my medication, and I was eating the best sandwich in the world. Thankfully, there was no sickness this time, and the food felt so good in my empty stomach that I moaned and asked Olena if I could have another. She only laughed and kissed me on the forehead. "Of course Roza, it's so good to see you with an appetite again!" She rushed out of the room to get my food.

"So doc, what medicine do I have now?" I was interested because the doctor had given me some weird pink solution to drink, rather than pills.

"Well Rose, we've been trying out different combinations of your medicine, and we think this might be the most effective one so far. It'll still be in a tablet form, I only gave you the liquid version so it would get into your system quicker, but you'll only have to take one pill rather than three each morning and evening. How do you feel at the moment?"

"I feel really good now. Much stronger than before. How long before I can start training again?"

"Well if you feel that good I don't see any reason why you can't start in two days time, just so I can monitor your progress and make any adjustments. I'll be staying in the next town over for the remainder of your holiday – helping out at the hospital - so if there's anything wrong I can get here without any problems. I'll be returning to Court with you both on the jet."

"Oh, okay. I guess I'll see you in a couple of months then, unless something else happens."

He laughed lightly as he collected the spare medication. "Yep, I guess I will. Something _always_ happens. See you soon, and be careful."

Two days later:  
I had so much energy since being given my new version of medication that Olena begged Dimitri to take me out from under her feet, since I was 'doing more harm than good.' So we decided to go for a walk around the town before doing the weekly food shop. Normally, everyone was friendly towards me, and a few of the neighbours would stop and chat to me. But once we started walking I realised that people were avoiding us. As we walked down the street people would duck into shop doorways, or cross the road before we reached them. Dimitri saw a couple of his mother's friends and called them over to introduce us; but they refused to look at me and left pretty quickly, whispering amongst themselves.

My heart sank. Somehow they knew, and it was just like being at Court. Tugging on Dimitri's arm gently, I whispered in his ear. "They know, Dimitri, about the disease. How did they find out? I don't want them to treat you like they do at Court; not here."

He pecked my lips gently. "Roza, don't worry. They shouldn't be so quick to judge, I'll deal with them. And I think it was Sonya who told them." His voice turned hard and angry. "Since her last attempt to hurt you didn't work, she's trying again, but on a larger scale. If they're all that petty, I don't want anything to do with them. Ignore them." And he kissed me again, ignoring the gasps and whispers that erupted from all around us. "Ignore them."

But despite his calm words and easy-going approach, as soon as we arrived back at the house and saw Sonya, he exploded. I couldn't tell what he was shouting exactly, because it was all in Russian, but from the gasps coming from his family, I guessed there were a lot of expletives in his rant. Sonya was giving as good as she got, and every so often she'd shout in English, especially when referring to me; but Dimitri stayed in Russian. It was scary seeing him this angry; even when we'd visited Victor before the trial he'd stayed calm and composed. I guessed this had hurt him so badly that it had broken his self-control.

Their argument lasted for thirty minutes, until Sonya slapped Dimitri. Shock was clear on her face and his as they stared at each other wordlessly. Her gaze kept flitting between his face and her hand; as if she couldn't comprehend what she'd done. Just as she looked like she was about to apologise, Dimitri spoke in a low voice. "No, Sonya. You made your choice, so now you have to stick by it. You've disgraced our family and disgusted me. You refuse to accept Rose, and then you hit me. You are no longer my sister." And then he turned away and walked upstairs.

Looking at the faces of his family, they'd never seen Dimitri act like that either. Even Yeva was open-mouthed. But it wasn't the time or place for me to comment, so I simply followed Dimitri up the stairs.

He was sitting on the bed, his head in his hands, trembling slightly. I still didn't say anything to him; just sat next to him and wrapped my arms around him. He leant against me, and I shifted so we were lying on the bed, my arms still wrapped around him, stroking his hair gently. After a while, the shaking stopped, and his arms moved around me too. But then the shaking started again, and I felt the wetness on my neck. He was crying, softly, but still crying. I moved again, so I was closer to him, and murmured soothingly to him. I tried to remember some of the things I'd heard him say to me when I was upset. After a little while it seemed to work, and his sobs slowed, before stopping completely. He didn't let go, and I didn't either. I simply stroked his hair and murmured to him gently, lending him my strength and giving him my love like he had for me so many times before.

* * *

We both fell asleep, and I woke to hear my phone beeping, the alarm remindingme to take my pill again. The noise must have woken Dimitri because he sat up, looking around groggily. "Roza?" His voice was still thick with sleep.

I took my pill before curling up against him again. "I'm here, comrade. How are you feeling?"

His eyes seemed gentler, softer somehow; and I felt like we were closer now than we had been before. He seemed to feel the same way and smiled at me. "I'm much better now, thank you." His voice was soft too. "I'm sorry you had to see me like that; but thank you for staying with me. For not judging me."

I smiled back at him. "I love you Dimitri. If you hurt, I hurt. You had every right to be angry, so thank you for being more open with me. I would never judge you in that way. I love you."

"I love you too." He leant forward gently and kissed me, but before things could go any further, there was a knock at the door. Sighing, I pulled back and opened it. I was shocked to find Yeva standing outside, and I could tell Dimitri hadn't been expecting it either. "Babushka, what's wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong, Dimka. I just came to tell you dinner is ready, and to speak with you both privately." She stepped inside of the room and closed the door. "I know what Sonya has said; both to and about you, Rose. I also know what has been said to the neighbours; and I know it's not true. They have been fed misinformation - that you are suffering from AIDS or some similar disease, that Dimitri is only with you out of pity, or that you have had him charmed to stay with you. But I know that is not true. I can see the love in your eyes, even when you're not with each other; and I have seen it in my dreams. I know that Tasha's envy and jealousy are the cause of your problems, and she thinks she is the only one who has the means to cure you. But this is not true."

Hearing these words Dimitri sat forward. "Do you mean there is another cure, Babushka? Have you had a dream?"

She nodded sadly. "Yes, there is a cure; but you will not accept it. I dreamt a few nights ago, and in the dream I saw you, and your Roza, both of you healthy and ready to live out the rest of your lives together. But there was an air of sadness surrounding you; which I only understood when the dream progressed. You were at a cemetery, in front of a small grave; freshly set, with a pure white marble tombstone. And on it were the words: 'Eva. Beloved daughter, she gave her life to save her mother's. We will love you eternally'." Seeing our faces she held up a palm and continued. "But, there was another side to the dream. It showed me you both the same as you are now. Happy, and as healthy as you can be. But there was no sadness in this version. You were overjoyed; united by more than your love. In your arms was a child. Your child, Dimka; and your's too, Rose. You were still sick, but you didn't care; you were both happy with the way your lives had turned out." She regarded us seriously as she moved towards the door. "You can be cured by your child, but you won't take that path. Dinner's ready."


	6. Chapter 6

It's me again :D I just wanted to ask you amazing readers to please check out The Right Thing by lovedimitri. It's an amazing fic; with a brilliant storyline; but atm she hasn't got enough reviewrs :'( please, please, please go give it a try! xx

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy, its characters or content.**

6. "Yeva… It's not possible. We're both dhampirs. We can't have children together. It's not possible." I repeated myself, thinking maybe her age was starting to affect her.

But Yeva only smiled at me. "Anything is possible once you open your mind to it. You are touched, Roza, in ways that very few others are; and that makes you a possibility and impossibility. You are far different, different even to those who are like you. Touched by the shadows, embraced by death; yet you're still alive. Think back on what I said to you when you first arrived. _'You are the one I have dreamed of so often. The one I prayed Dimitri would find, and with you find his home.'_ A home is nothing without children, Roza. You've been through things in your short twenty years that most people wouldn't experience in a thousand lifetimes. Open your mind, and your heart. You both deserve it."

* * *

Dinner was silent and awkward. Sonya sat with the family, which was surprising; but no one commented. Dimitri apologised to Olena, Viktoria and Karolina before focusing on his meal. Viktoria tried to make small talk, but I tuned out, instead thinking about Yeva's words. Would it really be possible for Dimitri and I to have a baby together? And what did she mean when she said our baby would cure me? And what did her dreams mean? It was all too confusing, and I couldn't figure it out. It seemed like Dimitri was thinking exactly the same thoughts as I was, and, like me, just needed time to think.

After dinner was finished, we went straight up to bed. We had around two hours before the rest of his family started to get ready for bed, so it would be nice to spend a little time together.

Sighing, I leaned back against his chest as he trailed his fingers through my hair. I was lucky; in that the few times I'd had to have chemotherapy my hair hadn't suffered. I'd suffered all of the other side effects, but luckily, my hair had stayed. Like me, it was tough. Almost as if he could read my mind, Dimitri murmured, "I'm glad your hair stayed."

"Mmmm, I am too. I don't think I could have coped if it had fallen out. I don't think you could have coped either. I swear you love it more than I do."

He chuckled before tracing my face. "I do love it, Roza. But I could cope if you'd lost it. What I couldn't and wouldn't be able to cope with was if it was you that was gone." He paused, and I waited, knowing he wanted to say something but wasn't sure how to phrase it. After a minute, he continued. "Do… Do you think what Yeva said was possible? That we could have a child?"

I thought for a moment before replying. "I don't really know. All my life I've been told that it's impossible for two dhampirs to have a child together. That it's not possible. But now… now I don't know what to think. You trust your grandmother, and I want to believe her too; but the two sides of my mind are conflicted. Is it possible? I don't know. Do I want it to be? Yes, more than anything."

"Really? I thought you weren't too keen on the whole kids thing."

"I wasn't, because I didn't want to be like my mum. And please don't take this the wrong way, but I don't want to be like your mum either." I ducked my head, afraid he'd be angry, but he lifted my chin till I was facing him.

"I'm not angry, Roza. Did you mean that you don't want to be treated the way she was? Because I will never let that happen to you."

"No, I mean, I don't want to give up being a guardian. Your mum has a brilliant life, and I'd love to be a part of this; the community that they all seem to share. But I want to protect Lissa and be with you, more than anything. If I have a baby, I don't want to dump them in an Academy straight away like my mum did. I want to raise them with you, like your mum raised you – a proper family. But if I do that, I'll have to stop guarding Lissa. And I can't do that. Not yet. I won't be able to stay at Court either; which means you either have to quit too, or you won't be able to see the baby. I don't want to do that to you either."

"Roza. I understand, and no one's saying you have to have children right now. And not everything Yeva says always comes true. Her dream might not occur for another twenty years. We don't have to think about it right now. Right now, let's just enjoy being together."

I grinned at him and slipped under the sheets. "Okay. And starting right now, I think we should pick up from where we left off earlier." I saw a mixture of amusement, lust and love spark in his eyes as he caught on to my meaning; and he grinned back at me before joining me under the covers.

* * *

The next few days weren't much better. People now stared and commented openly. There had been a few fights the few times we'd left the house; from idiots who thought they were smart to shout insults at me in Russian. They seemed to think that because I couldn't understand the words, I wouldn't understand the tone the words were delivered in, or that Dimitri wouldn't reply to them.

One guy had even smacked me on the bum, and whispered some filthy comment about how 'I should be up for anything since I was such a slut' in my ear when I'd jerked back. Dimitri had kicked the crap out of him for touching me like that, but his four friends had gotten involved and it had turned into a proper fight. Of course, since Dimitri was such a badass he'd beaten them all; but he'd still received a few vicious hits. It couldn't go on any longer; otherwise someone was going to end up seriously injured.

"Dimitri. It's got to stop somewhere. I'm going back to America."

"What?" I'd been cleaning his cuts and realised that this could have been much worse. One of those guys could have had a knife, or hit Dimitri in the head too hard… anything was possible.

"You heard me. It's got to stop. You could have been seriously injured, Dimitri! They would have killed you without a second thought if they hadn't been so weak. I can't let that happen to you. They're never going to believe your mum over what Sonya said, it's too deeply stuck in their minds; and it's going to get worse, not better. So I'm going back. They'll leave you alone if I go."

Catching my hands, he stopped me cleaning his cuts and forced me to face him. "No. If you go early, then I'm going too. I told you, if they don't accept you, then they don't accept me. But please, give them one more chance. Mum, Karolina and Viktoria have been explaining to their friends, and hopefully the truth is starting to spread. Even Yeva's spoken to a few people; and everyone in town believes what she has to say. Please, all I'm asking for is one more chance. Come with me to the campfire tonight. And if they're still bad, we'll leave first thing tomorrow."

Looking in his eyes, I could see he meant everything he meant, so I nodded. "Okay. But if anything even hints at going bad, I'm packing my stuff, calling the doctor and leaving."

Chuckling, Dimitri stood. "Deal. Let's get ready."


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclasimer: I do not own Vampire Academy or its characters. **

**A break from the sadness :) hope you like it! xx**

Arriving at the bonfire that evening, I could see that the majority of the neighbourhood had turned up. Confidently, Dimitri led me over to join the rest of his family, who were seated in a group with a couple of Yeva's friends, yet still close enough to benefit from the heat of the fire. When we joined them, a couple of the neighbouring groups shifted away; but following Dimitri's lead, I ignored them.

Despite the few whispers and eyes that seemed to be following our every movement, the campfire was fun, and oddly comforting. Over the course of the evening, Yeva and Olena re-introduced me to those who had shunned me over the past week; and I got the chance to explain the real reason I'd been sick. Many of them had been shocked and didn't believe me, a stranger they'd recently met, over Sonya, the woman who they'd known her whole life. But after Olena and Yeva confirmed my story, I could see their mindset begin to change. Of course, there were still a few groups of people who refused to even look at me; but that didn't bother me so much any more.

When we'd all eaten, people started to move from the loosely assembled circle we'd been in to talk some more with their friends. Dimitri and I sat on the outskirts of the group. The fire was warm enough that we didn't need the blanket anymore; and so we were curled together in the snow, letting the sounds of peoples' laughter and chatter wash over us.

Just as I was starting to fall asleep, Dimitri leaned over me and stroked the side of my face. "Roza." His whisper was so seductive. "Don't fall asleep yet."

"Why not?"

"This is why. . . ." My breath caught as he leaned down even closer to me, and I closed my eyes ready to feel his lips on mine. But rather than feeling him kiss me, there was a small _crunch_ next to my head and then a snowball pelted me full in the face.

I shrieked and swatted the snow from my face, just in time to hear Dimitri chuckle and throw another snowball at me as he sprinted away, luring me from the safety of the campfire. Of course, I had to have my revenge. Laughing, I got up and ran after him, scooping up a handful of snow as I went.

My aim was good, but Dimitri's reflexes were just as fast. It soon became an all-out war between us; using trees and bushes to duck and hide behind, while still trying to hit the other person. Dodging his hits was tricky, but it was even worse trying to hit him in return. Damn, that man was fast. I'd barely scooped a handful of snow before he'd launched three new shots at me, and it was all I could do to try and avoid them. Finally, when my gloves were soaked through, I gave up and simply ran at him, hoping to catch him off guard.

The training he'd made me maintain after we left the Academy came in handy. Chasing him around the groups of neighbours, I saw him change direction and head towards the woods and trees. If he managed to get in there, I'd have lost him for sure, and probably end up getting lost myself. So I pushed my body to the limit; and once he was within arms reached I grabbed the back of his shirt.

He obviously hadn't realised how close I was because I managed to pull him off balance. We both crashed to the ground, and grinning, I flipped him over, pinning his arms to the side. "Guess I got you, comrade. And in front of all your friends, too! You're never gonna live this one down."

Laughing, he grinned back up at me. "I wouldn't be so sure, Roza." And somehow, he managed to flip us over so I was the one pinned to the ground.

"How'd you do that?"

He didn't answer. Instead, he leaned down and kissed me softly before whispering, "It's a secret." And then he kissed me again.

I forgot about everyone else at the campfire. About the neighbours that were watching and gossiping, or those that were looking on with disgust. About the children that were giggling at us getting wet in the snow; and Dimitri's family. All that I could feel at that moment was his lips on mine. He'd let go of my hands, and I used that advantage to pull his face even closer and twine my fingers into his hair. His hands slipped to my waist, removing the little space that had been left between our bodies, and I felt heat surge through me from his hands and his lips as the kiss deepened.

This was the thing I loved to do the most with Dimitri. I loved talking with him, or to just sit in a comfortable silence and enjoy the sense of calm and control he always seemed to carry with him. I enjoyed our training and practice, I even loved being on duty with him. And of course, I loved having sex with him. That feeling of complete happiness, connection and just being close; being able to give him something no one else could, it was amazing. But I loved to kiss him more than anything. We couldn't just have sex anywhere and everywhere; but a kiss could be shared in almost any situation. A quick peck in between shifts; or one that was slow and sensual to hint at what was to come later. It could offer strength, encouragement, cheekiness - and always love. And since he'd finally helped me to break down my walls and rebuild my confidence, I wasn't frightened about showing my feelings towards him outside of our room at Court or anywhere else.

So I was more than a bit annoyed when I heard someone calling our names, causing Dimitri to end the kiss so he could reply. Squinting, I saw that it was Paul who'd run over. Letting out a frustrated sigh, Dimitri chuckled under his breath and sat up, pulling me into his lap at the same time. "Yes Paul, what's wrong?"

"Mum said you looked like you were getting a bit too comfortable in the snow, and Yeva said that if you carry on like this, then her dream's definitely going to come true. But I didn't know what she was talking about and neither did anyone else. And she won't say what she means, so I came over to see if you'd tell me."

"No, Paul, sorry. It's up to Yeva to tell you, because it was her dream."

"Aww, please Uncle Dimka? The dream was about you and Aunty Rose, so why can't you tell me?" With huge puppy-dog eyes and the pleading look on his face, I couldn't see how Dimitri could resist. But to my surprise, he only laughed.

"I know that it's Karolina who put you up to it, Paul, so I'm not telling you. They all want something to gossip about, and Vika will only use it against me later. Sorry, but no. If Yeva won't tell you, then you won't find out until it happens. And it might not happen, so I guess you won't find out."

Scowling, Paul turned away, muttering under his breath as he headed back to the rest of the family.

"I guess you're not his favourite uncle anymore. How're you gonna win him back over?"

"Easy, I wait until he wants me to get his ball off the roof again."

"That's evil! You can't use his own toy against him. Who knew that the great Dimitri Belikov had an evil side to him?" But I couldn't help the laughter in my voice, and I could hear it in Dimitri's too.

"I guess you're rubbing off on me, Roza. Pretty soon, no one will be safe. Including you."

The tone of his voice made me shiver; and I knew exactly what he was implying. "Well comrade, I think it's about time we headed home, don't you?"

Standing, we walked over to where Olena and the others were still sitting, talking with a few more neighbours. "Night guys; we're about to head back. I guess we'll see you in the morning."

There were a chorus of 'goodnight's, and 'sleep well's, but before we left, Viktoria called out. "Dimka! Guardian Sidorova and Headmaster Borovsky wanted to speak with you. They wanted to talk to you about going into St. Basil's for a few weeks or something, but they didn't say much. They're going to come around tomorrow to talk with you."

"Okay, thanks Vika. See you in the morning."

As we walked through the clumps of neighbours, I noticed that a lot of them were smiling warmly; not only at Dimitri, but at me as well. Smiling back, I said goodnight to them too and received lots of goodbyes and goodnights in return. A few of them spoke to Dimitri, so it took us a little while before we left the campfire completely.

As we walked down the streets, I voiced the thoughts that had been running though my head. "You were right; they weren't as bad tonight. Your family must have had a larger influence than I thought. What were they saying to you when we left?"

"Thank you. I take it that you aren't going to go back to America early? You'll stay for the last seven weeks?"

"Yup, I'm going to stay. Thank you for making me give them one more chance."

"It's fine, Roza. As for what they were saying when we were leaving, they were talking about us actually. They said it wasn't anything that Yeva or my mother said that changed their minds, it was you. They saw the way you were acting and realised if what Sonya said was true, you wouldn't still be here. Despite what's been said, you were still polite and respectful towards them. And then after the snowball fight, they said that if you had had me charmed, you wouldn't have acted that way towards me. That I wouldn't have acted that way towards you. That was what proved to them that we'd been telling the truth; so the majority of them now hate Tasha too, and are hoping to meet her down a dark alleyway somewhere so they can beat her without getting caught. Of course, a few still believe Sonya; but there's always someone somewhere who will doubt you. They realised how much we love each other, and a lot of them wished us good luck with our relationship."

By this time, we'd arrived back at the house and were taking off our coats and shoes. Stretching up onto my tiptoes, I pressed a soft kiss to his mouth and felt his arms tighten round my waist in response before picking me up completely and carrying me up to his room.


	8. Chapter 8

Hey everyone, I'm sorry that this chapter's being published so late. The stupid computers at school took forever to lad up and then wouldn't let me log into this site! Ugh, then I had bball practice so I couldn't do it when I got home :'( but it's here now and I hoope you like it. If I haven't already replied to your reviews for chapter 7, I'm about to do it, so thank you in advance! :D

Nadia Callanan, a huge shout out for your review :) You're right, they're all so horrid to her! I want a real Dimitri; he's so amaing in this story *sighs*aha Sonya, she's a right piece of work but now Dimitri's not talking to her so ha ha! Hmmm, I still dunno how it's gonna finish, but I hope they do find Tasha and save Rose; we'll just have to see what's gonna happen! :D thank you fr reviewing, I hope you get an account so I can reply to you properly xx

Nicole, thank you I'm so glad you liked it, and again I hope you get an account so I can reply. But thank you v. much for your review, I hadn't actually thought about doing that to Tasha; but that's a good idea. IfI can figure it out, I might just do that :) and here's the next chapter so I hope you'll like it just as much! xx

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy or its characters.**

8. The next day I woke up with Dimitri's arms wrapped tightly around me, and the feel of his bare chest against my back. Smiling, I looked at the clock wondering why I'd woken up, and frowned when I realised it was eleven thirty. I'd woken at nine and had my pill before going to sleep again. It was then that I realised Zoya and Paul were standing by the bed; Zoya was giggling at me and Dimitri in the same bed, but Paul was open mouthed, his eyes flicking between me, Dimitri and the pile of clothes on the floor. _Oops._ Before I could say anything, he'd darted down the stairs yelling for Olena, and, giggling again, Zoya had run after him.

"Dimitri." No answer. "Dimitri." Still no answer. "Comrade, time to wake up." This time I poked him in the side, but all he did was groan and tighten his hold, which made me giggle. Usually, it was me who was reluctant to open my eyes, with Dimitri trying to coax and bribe me into getting up. "Comrade, wake up. Your nephew and eldest niece were in here a second ago and we didn't leave this room in a very good state last night." There were butterflies in my stomach as I remembered exactly what last night had entailed; but we really needed to move before Olena came up to see exactly why Paul had been yelling.

"Huh." Nope, he was still tired.

"We got caught. Wake up so we can shower and eat, before anyone else decides to pay a little trip, especially as you wouldn't give them any gossip yesterday. I think we already overloaded Paul's brain, and Karolina isn't going to be pleased if he starts asking _those_ sorts of questions. And remember Viktoria said you were gonna have visitors today."

Thirty minutes later, we were both showered and dressed. Arriving at the kitchen, I expected to see Olena bustling at the counter; but instead Viktoria was sitting at the table with a fair-haired Moroi guy and a dark-haired dhampir woman. They looked up expectantly when we entered, and dimly, I realised they must have been the visitors Viktoria mentioned the night before. They were probably the reason Paul and Zoya had been in Dimitri's room this morning.

"Roza, Dimka. This is Guardian Sidorova and Headmaster Borovsky." She pointed to the woman and man in turn, confirming my guess that they were the visitors. "I finished at St. Basil's last year, but I still keep in touch, and so they asked if they could speak with you. But I'll let them explain why. I've got to go now, but I'll see you later."

While Viktoria had been talking, I'd been eating some cereal to wake me up properly. Sitting at the table, I was next to Dimitri and directly across from the guardian. She looked like she was in her late forties with a few streaks of grey in her dark hair. Like most female guardians, her hair was cut into a sharp bob to show off her marks. The headmaster appeared to be around the same age as the guardian. His hair was a sandy blonde and his eyes were a deep blue. There were fine lines around his eyes, which made me think he probably smiled a lot, and as if to prove my thoughts correct, he beamed at us as soon as I sat down.

But it was the guardian who spoke. "Guardian Belikov, it's good to see you again, and Guardian Hathaway, it's very nice to meet you." I smiled back at her and murmured a polite hello while Dimitri chuckled.

"It's only been ten years since I graduated, Guardian Sidorova."

"Yes, but you haven't been back to visit since then. Anyway, we came today to ask if you, and you Guardian Hathaway, would consider coming into St. Basil's to help out and maybe teach a few classes."

Headmaster Borovsky took over talking. "We've heard both sets of rumours about you, Guardian Hathaway; but your record speaks for itself. We don't believe the bad things people have been saying, and we're very sorry that it happened to you." I could see in his eyes that he was telling the truth.

"I wouldn't mind going in and helping out as long as Roza doesn't mind going in too."

I wanted to go too, but I was slightly hesitant. "I'd love to help, but won't the students mind? And their parents? I mean, I know that you don't believe what Sonya spread around." Hearing her name, Dimitri tensed slightly, and I gently squeezed his hand before continuing. "But it's taken a long while for even the few people around here to accept that I was telling the truth. I don't want the kids to believe the wrong person and for parents to get angry and take it out on you and the academy."

But Guardian Sidorova only shook her head. "That doesn't matter. They should accept the truth; not malicious lies. And you'll only be teaching combat classes, not sexual education." I laughed, shocked that she was so light-hearted about the whole situation. Most guardians would have been dead serious.

"Well if you really don't mind, then I'd be honoured to help." They both grinned at me and the headmaster spoke again. I let Dimitri speak this time. He could arrange it all, I was just excited at the thought of helping teach and getting to train with other guardians. Maybe I could learn some new tricks to use on Dimitri.

"Brilliant. How much longer are you planning on staying in Baia? We'd like for you to come in for a month, but we don't want to intrude on your plans."

Dimitri spoke. "We've got two more months before we go back to Court. When do you want us to start?"

"On Monday, if that's possible. Will three days be enough time to pack some clothes and get to the academy? You'll be able to stay in guest housing, or you can travel to the academy daily if you'd prefer."

"No, we'll stay on site. We'll arrive on Sunday evening to arrange with the other guardians, if that's okay with you, Headmaster. We can do some shifts if you want; it'll help with added protection."

"That would be brilliant, thank you. We'll see you on Sunday then." Smiling, they both stood and shook our hands before leaving.

Once they'd left Paul came into the kitchen. I could see Viktoria and Karolina standing within earshot and they looked like they were trying hard not to laugh but I couldn't figure out why.

Dimitri seemed just as confused as I was. "Are you okay Paul. Did your ball get stuck on the roof again?"

"No Uncle Dimka. I just wanted to know why you were in bed with Aunty Rose this morning." The sound of laughter carried from Dimitri's sisters, and my eyes narrowed, knowing this was why they were hanging around. But Dimitri didn't seem bothered.

"I always sleep in bed with Aunty R-." Pal cut him off.

"Yes but you were both naked this morning! In bed with Aunty Rose! _Naked._" He said it like it was a dirty word and I could feel my face flushing. I was not ready to have this conversation, ever, and certainly not with my nephew. God, if Dimitri and I did have kids; he could have 'the talk'. I wasn't doing it. Now I understood why Viktoria and Karolina were laughing. Glancing at Dimitri, he looked uncomfortable but resigned.

Sighing he sat at the table and motioned for Paul to sit on one of the chairs. "Paul, hasn't your mum ever told you about se-."

This time he was interrupted by Karolina, rushing though the door to cover Paul's ears. "No! Don't tell him, God Dimka, I'll do it when he's old enough to know!"

From what I could see of her face and Viktoria's, they both looked horrified. "What?" Dimitri raised his hands defensively. "You sent him in here to ask me, even though he had no idea what he was talking about. I'm his uncle, it's better he finds out from me rather than his friends at school."

"No! No, I'll tell him when he's older, thank you, Dimka." Turning, she dragged Paul out of the kitchen with her, leaving Dimitri sitting at the table looking bewildered at what had just happened.

And I burst out laughing.

**Hey guys, I've written up to chapter 10; and I have the rest planned out, but I wanna know, how do you want this story to end? There's not many chapters left, and I'd like you guys to have the choice. So let me know what you'd like to happen, and whatever the most people suggest, or the idea that I can write thhe best I'll do! Thanks for taking te time to read this! Denicia xx**


	9. Chapter 9

Please don't think I've been ignoring you, I will be doing a shout out in the next chapter, I just keep forgetting to write down everyones names! It will be there tho! xx

**IMPORTANT A.N** A couple of people have commented on this in their reviews, and so I'll explain it properly. Rose and Dimitri haven't been offered permanent jobs at St. Basil's; it's just for a month to help out because they're in Baia and are kick ass guardians ;) Also, Tasha and Sonya aren't working together. I'm rele sorry if that's ruined some of your hopes, but they're not connected. Tasha's a jealous evil cow; and Sonya's just a spiteful bitch. But no one likes them anyways, so ha to them :D Nadia, I really like your idea, at the moment that's at the top of my list; but Lissa does need Rose, and with everything they've been through Rose and Dimitri know they can work through the horid people at court together like they have been :) as for babies and their future, we'll just have to see. Thanks for reading this guys, and I hope you enjoy the next chapter, please keep letting me know how you'd like the story to end! Denicia xx

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy.**

9. It was Monday morning, and we were waiting for the students to enter the gym. When we'd arrived yesterday evening, Guardian Sidorova had met us and taken us to meet the rest of the staff and explain what we'd be doing. We'd be working with the majority of the students, but focusing especially on those in the top two years, who were going to graduate soonest. With them, we would be working on staking and sparring; perfecting their techniques and methods of attack. We would teach these students in the morning until lunch, and then either help out in the other combat classes during the afternoon with the lower years, be on patrol, or just have some free time to do what we wanted.

Hearing laughter and chatter as the students entered the practice room, I began to get nervous. What if they didn't accept the reality behind my illness? Like Dimitri's neighbours, would they believe Sonya, someone who had been there their whole lives over me - a stranger? Sensing my unease, Dimitri gave my hand a quick squeeze. Sidorova had said that it was up to us whether we made our relationship public knowledge or not; and though the teachers knew, we'd decided to just let the students find out on their own.

Once all the students appeared to have arrived, Guardian Sidorova stepped forward and the conversations stopped. "Good morning. I hope that you all had a nice weekend, and that you're refreshed and eager to start again." There was a mixture of laughter and groans. I counted around 50 students in the room, which would be tough but manageable; most of the faces seemed curious as to who Dimitri and I were, which eased the anxiety in my chest slightly. Maybe they hadn't heard about me or my illness. Yet.

"As you were told yesterday, and should have been reminded this morning, your schedule has changed for the next month. The afternoon will remain the same as usual, but your mornings will be combat only, focusing especially on staking and sparring. The reasoning for this is that we are very lucky to have two visitors who were very generous in donating some of their holiday to come and work with you. I'm pretty sure you've heard of them, and maybe even studied them during one of your classes somewhere; so please make them both feel very welcome, Guardian Dimitri Belikov and Guardian Rose Hathaway." There had been loud shouting and cheering when Dimitri's name was mentioned; but it quietened down considerably when mine was said.

My hopes crashed. Obviously, they knew about it, and they were teenagers - they'd believe the worst about anyone. I still remembered being back at the academy, willing to believe the most scandalous piece of gossip over the truth; because gossip always sounds better. Guardian Sidorova seemed to pick up on this, and continued speaking. "They are both very talented at their jobs, which will be your jobs very soon. As you probably know, Guardian Belikov was a student here himself, and graduated at the top of his class, as did Guardian Hathaway at St. Vladimir's Academy in Montana. She is guardian to Princess Vasilisa Dragomir, and he to Lord Christian Ozera; so trust them when they tell you something, and take into account what they are teaching you. I'll leave you now to get accustomed to each other and begin your sessions. I hope you enjoy them!"

Stepping forward, Dimitri spoke. "So as you were just told, I am Guardian Belikov, and this is Guardian Hathaway. We will be training you for the next two weeks in staking and sparring, working on perfecting your techniques and making general improvements. You will be split into two groups. The first group will focus on conditioning and sparring for the first hour and a half, then after the break, they will focus on staking until lunch. The second group will focus on staking first; followed by conditioning and sparring. There will be no changing groups; whether that be because of who your instructor is, where your friends are, or because of who else is in your group. If you have problems with anything, please come and talk to either of us, but I will not tolerate ignorance or rudeness. Are there any questions?"

Looking around, I couldn't see any hands up, so Dimitri continued, looking at the sheet of paper in his hand. "In group one we have…" I tuned out as he read out the list of names, taking a little time to mentally prepare myself. I would be teaching staking; and depending on how they responded to me, I would continue with them in the second session, teaching sparring, or I would take Dimitri's group for staking instead.

Listening back in, Dimitri had just finished reading the list. "I will be leading group one, with sparring, and Guardian Hathaway will be leading group two." There were a few soft groans; but they stopped once Dimitri's gaze turned hard. "As I said; there will be no changing groups, and no disrespect in these sessions. If you don't want to abide by those rules, the door's right there." No one moved, so he nodded. "Okay, my group, we're heading outside first to work on your conditioning and endurance." Hearing more groans, I grinned, remembering how much I hated running laps.

Before he followed his group out of the door, Dimitri gave my hand a small squeeze. "Shout me if anything goes wrong, okay?"

"Don't worry; I think you scared them all pretty bad already, I should be fine. I'll see you in the break, I love you."

"I love you too." Taking a deep breath I turned to face my group.

While we'd been talking, the majority of them seemed to have backed away several steps, as if simply standing near me was enough to infect them. Sighing, I went to run my hand through my hair, before realising that I'd tied it up into a bun so it wouldn't get in the way. "Okay, I need you all to step right back up here so you can hear me clearly."

A few of them scowled and dragged their feet, but none of them disobeyed me. Despite the fact that they believed the bad rumours, I was still a guardian - and for the next month, their teacher. Once they were all in front of me, I started again. "Okay, so I'm Guardian Hathaway. It's up to you whether you call me that or Rose, but I'd prefer for you to call me Rose. Say whichever you prefer. As you've already been told, I'm going to be working with you on your staking and technique first; but before we start I need you guys to warm up. So can you please jog five laps of the gym followed by two running and lastly one flat out sprint? Then make sure you stretch your whole body; and I'll get the dummies set up."

Most of the kids nodded and moved to the wall to start, but one of them didn't move. "Can you please start running? I'm sorry, but I don't know your name yet. You need to warm up, otherwise you're going to tear a muscle and not train at all." I expected him to roll his eyes at me or something before he started, but his reply completely shocked me.

"Why the hell should I listen to anything you say, bitch? It's fucked up that they even let you continue guarding anyone, let alone the Dragomir Princess; and then you come in here thinking you're big and that you can teach us. Fuck that, you shouldn't even be allowed to guard a piece of dog shit; I ain't running any laps. You won't let me change groups, you can deal with it."

My mouth was hanging open along with the rest of the students. This guy's mouth was even worse than mine had been when I was still at school. He looked like he was a little over six foot, and broader than most dhampir guys. Huh. He probably thought that since he was so big, no one could do anything to him.

"Well for your information, I can do shit. You should be listening to every damn word that I say because one day it might save your pathetic life, and your charge's. You think you're tough because you're bigger than most guys and cos you've heard something about me that's not true but that most people believe. I guard the Dragomir Princess because I'm the best. So you better suck it up and start running those laps, or get your stuff and leave. Now." My voice was ice cold, and the other students looked frightened. I could hear whispers of "Greg's being an ass again", "Why doesn't he just do as he's told?" and even "Shhh, this is getting good!" But this idiot _Greg_ just had a smirk on his face.

"Yeah; and how're you gonna make me? Guardian Belikov said all that crap about respect, but he probably didn't mean when talking to diseased skanks like you."

I smirked back in return. "I wouldn't be so sure. Maybe he was talking about little boys like you, whose maturity and vocabulary levels aren't even half as big as your ego is. And I'm betting it's only that big to make up for other parts of you that are probably lacking. You probably stuff your shoes with tissue." There were giggles and laughter from the rest of the group and I noticed that it wasn't only my students standing there.

His gaze narrowed at me. "You bitch. You think you can talk to me like that? Fine then; fuck the staking, lets spar."

I grinned. "Good, rules are no killing, no hitting above the neck, and if asked to stop you do so immediately. First person to pin the other down for three seconds wins."

It was then that I heard Dimitri speak. "What's going on here? Why is my group all crowded by the door? Where's R- I mean, Guardian Hathaway?"

My group moved so he could see where me and Greg in the sparring circle ready to start. "Oh hey comrade. I'm just teaching Greg here a little lesson in why he should never doubt my abilities. Basic sparring, the first to pin the other wins, no illegal hits etc. Can you judge for us? It should be quick." I could tell from the set of his mouth that he didn't like the thought of Greg being rude to me, and so he nodded

"Okay, let me call my group over, seeing as they're already in." He let out a low chuckle. "All of you stand back, two steps away from the edge of the circle, and watch closely. Okay Roza, Greg, start."


	10. Chapter 10

I'm very sorry for the long wait for this chapter :'( Mega hugs to all of you for reviewing, alerting or adding this (and me) to their favourites. I rele hope you know that it's very much appreciated and I try to always reply to your reviews. If you can take the time to read, I can definitely take the time to thank you : )

So again thank you! And shout outs as promised to you all; gracefish21, DarkRomanceAddict, Crazy Runner, IloveCeci, Katherine-Rose-Rulz, DimitrixXxLover, Aiko no Kaze, snowdrop0594, GoldenIvy, Baddass Hathaway, lulumarie02, RoseElla, Vampire Crazz, HappyEndingsAddict, iloveyoudimitri, rivereq, LittleDhampir123, PeaceRoseG'ladheon, JennyTran195, DaughterofPosiden373, tmonkey726, cubanamerican, LadyGraceC, moki-miko, crystal49s, Sweet-Chi-Chi, LostInLoveAlways, bookluver4ever, nadia callanan, nicole, jessie80, peggy, PlantNerd92, abhi9, Mangagurl301 and missa27.

Guys please check out **LittleDhampir123**'s stories, they're amazing! Especially **Your Vampires** =]

And if you're into Maximum Ride, please read **lazerwolf314**'s story **Fire, water, dark and light**. It's awesome!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy, its characters or content.**

10. I faced Greg, and we began to circle each other, watching for any signs that the other was going to attack. I didn't want to attack first and lose my advantage; it was better to see his style first, and then adjust. Now that we were actually going to spar, he didn't seem so sure about himself. He actually looked nervous; but then the smirk covered his face again and he lunged, aiming a punch for my shoulder.

I dodged it easily and aimed a roundhouse kick at his chest. It wasn't too hard because I didn't want to break anything, but it was firm enough to knock him back a couple of steps and to make the students cheer.

The fight continued like this for a few more minutes, with him missing me every time and my hits always pushing him slightly further back. It reminded me of when I first started training with Dimitri, and brought a smile to my lips. And that's what must have pushed Greg to yell in frustration and aim a roundhouse kick directly at my ribs. And because I moved to block the hit, when he yanked his leg back halfway through, I couldn't dodge the punch aimed at my face.

Dimitri POV  
None of us expected Greg to throw an illegal punch. I expected him to try and tackle her legs or some other sort of trick; but not to show such a blatant disregard for the rules in front of two guardians and a class full of students. I was watching the fight, and though I noticed when Greg raised his hand, I thought he was using it for balance. By the time I opened my mouth to shout a warning, his fist had already connected with her left temple, and she collapsed.

Rose POV  
Groaning, I opened my eyes in time to see Dimitri body slam Greg into the mats. Shutting my eyes and opening them again, I clutched at the side of my head and tried to sit up, but a large pair of hands pushed my shoulders back to the floor.

"Wait a minute Roza, you got hit pretty badly. One of the kids has gone to get the school doctor and then you can get up."

Glaring, I struggled to get up again, but his hands held me down firmly. "Comrade, I'm fine. Honestly, it was just a quick tap; I really don't need the doctor to come."

"Rose, you saw me tackle Greg and then you blacked out for fifteen minutes. It was definitely more than a quick tap."

I opened my mouth to argue again, but then I saw the worry in his eyes. Reaching up, I was going to stroke his face, but realised the students were still in the room; some of them sitting and talking, while others watched us curiously. So I shoved his shoulder and gave him a small smile. "Fine then, I'll play nice with the doctor if you'll at least let me sit up."

After I'd been checked over by the doctor, I told Dimitri to take his group back outside and to continue with the session. He hadn't wanted to, but I was fine now; and since Greg had been taken to the headmaster's office, I didn't think there would be any more problems.

"Okay guys, can you all come and sit in a circle for me please." This time there was no shuffling or complaints, so I took that as a good sign and sat down too. "I was going to do this once you'd all run your laps, but Greg kind of ruined that. What I wanted to know is, are any of you uncomfortable with me teaching you? I know you've all heard the rumours about me; and while I want a chance to explain, I won't force you to stay in this group if you really don't want to."

One of the girls raised her hand, so I pointed at her. "Sorry, I don't know your name. Did you want to move groups, or did you have a question?"

"It's Nicole. And no, I don't want to switch; but I do have a question. What's really wrong with you if you've not got HIV?"

"Basically, we're not sure what's exactly wrong with me. It's a completely new illness, and we think that I contracted it in the hospital a year ago after I was shot. How? We don't know that either, our best guess is that one of the blood transfusions I had to have was tainted." I didn't mention Tasha. The Ozera's had enough bad press already without adding Tasha into it; and people had finally started to accept Christian, to look at him as a person, free from the shadow his parents had cast. "It's symptomatic of HIV with muscle aches, headaches, etc, as well as AML with effects like being prone to infections, bruising and bleeding more easily, and pain in my bones and joints. It's hard to deal with; but my medicine makes it much easier to manage and work."

Hearing my explanation, lots of the students didn't seem so cold towards me. Another one of them asked a question. "But if it's not HIV or AML, why does everyone say it is? Is it passed on in the same way or something?"

"You know I'm staying with Guardian Belikov's family while on holiday?" The majority of them nodded. "Well, one of his sister's didn't like that I was staying there, and spreading that rumour was another way of her showing her displeasure at me being there. No, it's not passed on in the same way; in fact, the doctors don't think it can be passed on. That's why it's so difficult to treat. It can't be passed on through sex or by blood or by anything else we can think of, thankfully. Now I'm sorry to cut the conversation short, but you guys do need to practice. If you want to ask me anything else, then come see me during a break or after school; I'm staying on campus. But before we get started, I do need to ask if you're all comfortable with me teaching you now. I appreciate you giving me the chance to explain, but I don't want to push you too far. I have medical gloves and a mask in my bag if you'd prefer for me to wear those?"

But they all shook their heads and one boy grinned at me. "Nah miss, we're tough. Come on and show us what you've got."

Grinning back, I lead them over to the dummies, and we started our first day properly.

* * *

The students were relaxed and enthusiastic with their training; and pretty soon we'd finished both sessions and were packing up for lunch. During the class, I'd spoken to Nicole a lot more, and some of her friends; Cassandra, Shaneka, and Basam, and Kenaz, Marcella and Sydelle who'd been in Dimitri's group. They reminded me of Lissa and the rest of my friends back at Court, and it was nice to talk to someone new. We'd all had a laugh during the session and were chatting now that it was finished.

"Rose! Do you want to sit with us at lunch? Or do you have to sit with the other guardians?"

"I'm not actually too sure what's happening. Dimi- I mean, Guardian Belikov was going to show me around the school. So while you guys go get changed I'll finish tidying up and ask him."

While Dimitri finished up with his group, I finished putting away the mats and got changed. It felt so good to shower and put on some fresh clothes! I hadn't realised just how hard it was to teach another person, and had a new found appreciation for all the hard work Dimitri had put in to help me catch up with my training. As I was walking over to my bag, a strong pair of arms wrapped around my waist, and I turned to face Dimitri.

Like me, he'd showered, and his hair fell in wet strands around his face. Smiling, I reached up to brush them out of his face and was rewarded with a kiss. "So comrade, what do you have planned for this afternoon? Since I'm so popular, I've already been asked to spend some of my precious lunch break with my amazing students, who are so much better than yours." Smiling wickedly, I added. "Do you think you can spare me?"

He laughed before he replied. "I'm pretty sure I can manage, Roza. But I do want to show you around. So what if I go see some of my old teachers first; since that would probably bore you out of your mind, and then come get you for the last twenty minutes? Do you think _you_ can spare _me_ for that long?"

"Mmm, I'm not too sure comrade; we'll just have to see how it goes." I grinned as his lips came into contact with mine again before being interrupted by a few shocked gasps and giggles.

"I told you there was something going on between them. Pay up Kenaz, _and_ you too Sydelle."

"What! You really think I'm gonna give you £20 for nothing? Dream on, Basam." **(A.N. They bet 20 roubles. From what I could find on the web, the Russian ruble sign is like the letter P with an extra line through the middle. Sorry if it's wrong.)**

"Look, I said from the start that they were hooking up; and you said, 'Noooo, guardians as good as they are don't do that. They're probably just really good friends; blah, blah, blah.' And I said, 'wanna bet?' and you said, 'yeah, how much' and I sai-."

"Okay Basam, we get it, just shut up. God, I'll even pay for Sydelle if it'll stop your gloating."

In the doorway to the gym were Nicole, Cassandra, Shaneka, Basam, Kenaz, Marcella and Sydelle. Obviously, they'd just seen the whole exchange between me and Dimitri. Laughing, I pecked him on the lips once more before grabbing my stuff. "Hey, now that you've stopped arguing, can we go get some lunch? Guardian Belikov, I'll see you later."

The walk to the cafeteria was full of giggles and gossiping about mine and Dimitri's relationship. I made them promise not to tell the other students about us; it was up to them to figure it out. They couldn't believe that we managed to do such a good job of guarding, yet still find time to be together on our own. Hopefully, it made them a little more optimistic about their own futures; and the chance to have long-lasting relationships. Basam was still gloating over the fact that he'd been right all along, while the others kept trying to ignore his shouts of victory. The whole scene made me laugh; but I felt a pang of sadness as I remembered so many times before when it was me, Eddie and Mason doing the same thing.

* * *

The cafeteria at St. Basil's wasn't like the one at St. Vladimir's. At St. Vlads, the guardians had a separate building where they ate their meals, whereas here there was a large table for the guardians to eat their meal and supervise at the same time, and there was also a separate guardians' building.

The dinner line moved quickly, so it wasn't long before we'd grabbed our lunches and sat at a table where I was introduced to a few more of their friends, but these students were Moroi. Though they were polite, they seemed more reserved than Nicole and the other dhampirs. Maybe they thought I was sent over by the guardians to spy on them or something; but after a few minutes of chatter they warmed up slightly more. Seems not everyone in the school seemed to know who I was; just that I was visiting for a few months and with Dimitri's family.

Eating with Nicole's group, I took the time to enjoy sitting at a table without being judged. There were a few kids from the training session dotted around, and I could see from the excited whispers that news was spreading; either about who Dimitri and I really were, what had been said between Greg and I, or over what had happened after. It was probably gossip about the fight. And, predictably, the conversation at the table turned to the fight between me and Greg.

"Guys, I really don't want to talk about it. He was too smart-mouthed for his own good, and got what was coming to him. End of story." Gosh, I was starting to sound like my mum; and that thought reminded me of the practice session we'd shared. That situation hadn't been too different to the one I'd been in earlier, except this time I was the one who'd had the extra experience and had been teaching the student a lesson.

Basam had been nagging me for the past ten minutes to re-tell the whole scene, despite the Moroi at the table having heard it three times already. Just as he opened his mouth again to ask, a screechy voice made itself known.

"Nicole, oh my life! You didn't tell me he was coming in today!"

"Dee, hey! We thought you weren't coming in." Nicole didn't look or sound too enthusiastic, and, interested, I looked up as a tall dhampir girl flung herself down at the table, dropping her tray on the tabletop loudly and scrabbling through her purse before smiling triumphantly when she pulled out what she was looking for – a mirror. Her actions made me giggle slightly; but the smile faltered when I saw what she was wearing, and what she was saying.

Her hair was bleached blonde and styled to perfection. She had slight curls, which had dropped the smallest amount to make gentle waves, pinned back into place with what looked like a diamond hair slide. Heavy make up too; my gosh, she was a dhampir and she was wearing about an inch of foundation! When she was _supposed_ to have combat classes, her clothes were tight, as in way, way too tight. She was wearing what appeared to be denim shorts and a training top that was too tight around her bust and only reached her belly button. I know I used to dress up a bit, but when it came to training I was completely focused and dressed accordingly; not like I was going out clubbing. Once I'd gotten over my shock at what she was wearing, I tuned back in to what she was saying.

"You didn't tell me Guardian Belikov was coming in today! I'd heard about how hot he is, and so I wanted to get in early, but no; I completely overslept! I woke up only because Kenaz called me asking why I didn't turn up to the training session, I mean I was supposed to be in his group and I totally missed it! So I was rushing to get all my make up done and stuff so I could get over here in case he was eating lunch; and guess what? I, like, saw him as I was running across the quad! He didn't see me, but man, let me tell you; he's absolutely gorgeous. Like mouth wateringly, want to eat you up with chocolate, gorgeous." There was an embarrassed silence at the table as the members of the group who knew I was with Dimitri looked at me; but I shook my head slightly, letting them know that I wanted to hear what else she had to say.

"I heard from a few girls in the lower classes that apparently he's here with another guardian, I think they said Guardian Hathaway - some woman he works with, but I don't think that they're together. I mean, come on, she can't be good enough. Just look at him!" She finally seemed to realise that no one had said anything, and looked around questioningly. "What? Come on girls, you've seen him. Isn't he, like, the hottest thing on two legs that you've ever seen? And I know that he's twenty seven or something; but older means more experience." At this she winked, expecting Nicole and the girls to join in, but they didn't. Instead, the embarrassed silence grew.

Kenaz seemed like the only one with enough guts to speak. "Erm, Dee?"

"Yeah? Do you think I've got a chance? I know I'm still in school, but I'm hot enough to match him, don't you think?"

"Dee, erm, do you actually know who Guardian Hathaway is? I mean, as in what she looks like?"

"Well, no. I hear that she's pretty, but I'm not too bothered. Also, didn't you hear those rumours? Apparently she's got HIV but she's trying to pass it off as some 'unknown' disease." That was when my temper spiked, and as I opened my mouth to let her know I wasn't actually a student, the only person who could calmed me down shouted my name.

"Roza!"

Dee let out a squeal as Dimitri approached our table. "It's him, it's him! Do I look okay? They say that first impressions are always the best. And who was he talking to when he shouted Roza? I don't know anyone by that name..."

By this time, Dimitri had arrived at our table; and deciding to be nice to Dee, rather than humiliate her, I didn't go overboard when I greeted him. "Hey comrade, how was the walk? Bring back any memories that you'd forgotten?" Quickly, I shoved what I hadn't eaten into my bag and stood up. But apparently, Dimitri wasn't fussed about it because he leant down and kissed me gently before linking his fingers through mine.

"It was good. It was nice to see my teachers that have stayed; but I found out that a couple left. Apparently there was an attack shortly after I graduated, and quite a few of them were either killed or taken." I shuddered, remembering the attack on the school three years ago, but I was thankful Dimitri hadn't been here when they attacked. It was selfish, but I couldn't bear to imagine what my life would be like if I hadn't ever met him. "But, it's in the past Roza, don't look so sad." I hadn't realised my emotions had been showing on my face.

Turning back to the table, I saw Dee's face, and felt sorry for her. She looked absolutely crestfallen and highly embarrassed; at the fact that Dimitri was taken, and that she'd been gushing about him in front of his girlfriend. Thinking about it now, I didn't feel sorry. She should have asked who I was. Smiling wickedly, I gave the group a quick wave. "I'll see you all tomorrow, and maybe in some of your lessons today. Don't forget to wear something _suitable_."

Nicole's grin matched mine as I walked away with Dimitri. "Yep, see you tomorrow Guardian Hathaway!"

Dee's squeak of mortification and the other's laughter was the last thing I heard before I walked out the cafeteria.

**Thank you to my anonymous reviewers; Crazy Runner, nadia callanan, nicole and peggy. Here are your replies;**

**Crazy Runner, **your reviews always make me laugh! I'm so glad you like this an I just wanted to say I'm so sorry I still haven't written up your idea for 'Fool For You' my gosh, I've been writing this one so much I completely forgot! :'( I will be writing it up very soon, but I'll let you know as soon as it's done.

**Nicole, **thank you very much for your review, I agree with you; Tasha is an evil bitch, and with the way she's been acting I might just do that. Thank you for the idea!

**Nadia, **hehe no probs : ) I'm glad it made it a little clearer for you =] lol that kid would have been dead if Dimitri had heard him :D I hope this chapter was ok tho and I'm so glad you like my story! I hope you like the rest of it!

**Peggy, **that would be a brilliant twist! Ooh I'm not gonna say it out loud, but if I can figure out how to do it, then it's going in!


	11. Chapter 11

Thank you so much to DarkRomanceAddict for her amazing idea for this chapter. I hope you like it!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy, its characters or content.**

11. Tasha POV:  
I hated waiting. It was the worst thing in the world to be expected to sit, without news, without updates - to just wait. I hadn't always been so impatient. Before the incident, before the rest of my family and I were snubbed and looked down upon, I'd been content. Happy to wait my turn; perfect etiquette, the best manners, kind to those I knew, and even kinder to those I didn't. But then, Lucas and Moira turned. Awakened themselves. Became Strigoi. And all that I'd known was taken away. The invites, the warm welcomes, that sense of belonging - all gone. But it didn't matter because I had Christian to look after now and he was more important. If I'd thought I was alone, he was completely isolated. I was an adult, old enough to have made true friends who would stay by my side, despite my brother's actions.

But Christian had had no one. He was too young to have made friends that were old enough to make their own choices, and the rest of our family shut him out, simply because it had been his parents that made the foolish mistake. I think that's when I began to hate waiting. Those few weeks, where we knew we were alone in the world, simply waiting as each hour passed, wondering if that was the moment they would come for him. And eventually they did.

Everyone knows what happened when they came, and how it ended. But they didn't know the chaos that was left behind. But Dimitri did. We'd grown up together and he offered me the friendship I needed to rebuild my strength and confidence so I could get back on my feet. He gave me the encouragement none of my friends would give me when I decided to learn how to defend myself; both physically, and with magic. He stood by me.

I'd known he was going to be an amazing guardian when he graduated; and like I thought, he was. Graduated at the top of his class, and went on to guard Ivan Zeklos. I was going to request him as my guardian; but I knew several other royals had their eyes on him, and since I was an Ozera, a disgrace, I'd known that I'd never get a chance. I was content to stay friends with him, though, and to keep in touch. There were those times when we became closer to each other and times when we grew further apart, but that friendship never wavered, and he always knew that I was holding out for him; that I wanted to be more than what we were. Maybe it was that I was slightly older, so I didn't push it. He never rejected me outright, and so I never gave up hope.

But then four years ago, I thought luck was finally going my way. Sadly, Ivan had been killed two years previously and Dimitri had been assigned to St. Vladimir's Academy - where Christian was studying. I hadn't been able to go down and visit, but I hoped that when I came down for Christmas break I'd be able to talk to him again. I'd heard from someone that they'd found the Dragomir Princess and her friend, and that Lissa and Christian were dating. I was so happy to hear that something was finally going right in his life; and perhaps with their relationship, the other royals wouldn't be so harsh towards him.

I'd gone up for Christmas vacation to see Christian. I'd found out that Dimitri was mentoring a student, Lissa's friend; but she could get a new mentor. I didn't like to be selfish, but I'd waited too long for this chance. Yet, when I got there, I could tell something had changed. Dimitri had changed; it wasn't noticeable to anyone else, but I'd known him for so long, it was hard not to. I'd catch him smiling at nothing, or his eyes would soften at some thought that he wouldn't share with me. It was strange, and I felt hurt. We were growing apart again, and this time I didn't know why. So I asked him again, praying that this time he'd agree to be my guardian. Surprisingly, this time he said he'd think about it. Maybe, just maybe, his feelings had changed and it had been me he'd been looking at.

But then he turned me down. Told me he couldn't do that to the Princess or to Rose. That was when I knew he was lying to me, which hurt more than the thought that we were growing too far apart. Still, I left it. I didn't want to get him in trouble, and I knew he wouldn't do anything to take advantage of her. It was obvious now that she had a crush on him and had been jealous of our friendship so she'd been distant towards me. To tell the truth, I'd wanted to be indifferent towards her too, but I'd been taught to always treat the other person with respect, so I couldn't be mean to her. Her actions were understandable. With Dimitri, it was probably just a passing attraction that would be over before it started.

But I was wrong again. Before I knew it, six months had passed, there had been an attack on the Academy, and Rose had graduated. I hadn't spoken to Dimitri much, so I was shocked when I heard that he and Rose had come out publicly as a couple. My heart broke all over again, as the last chance I'd had slipped away. And then again when I found out that he'd asked to be reassigned to Christian. He wouldn't do it for me, but he would for _her_, so they could be together. But I still hoped, still prayed that they'd break up, or be split up. Something, anything, that would give me the chance to claim back Dimitri, to take what was rightfully mine. He was supposed to be with me; to be my boyfriend, my guardian, and then husband. We could have children together. What could she give him? Nothing! Yet year after year, when I offered him that chance, he still chose her every time.

So, a little over a year ago, I began to plan. Most people would call me obsessed, say that it was time to let Dimitri go, accept that he'd moved on, and to do the same, but I couldn't. We were meant to be together, and he just couldn't see that. She was poisoning his mind. She was the reason why he hadn't chosen me. She was to blame for all my problems. So I had to take her out of the picture. Once she was gone, Dimitri would need me. And I would be there to give him the help he needed to move on with his life happily. She would be gone from his memories, and we would have the life we were supposed to have had for the past three years while I'd been waiting.

It took a while to plan; but eventually it all came together.

The human was easy to compell; feed off them for a couple of days and they're like sheep. I found out from Christian when they were next going to the mall, and made sure that the human was there. He knew what to do, and he did it well. Nobody saw me watching; but I was there. I saw everything, saw her get shot, and saw Dimitri begging her to hang on, love clear in his eyes. But it was wrong; they shouldn't have been allowed to stay together, and that was why she had to suffer. I'd suffered for most of my life, and she'd taken away the one person I could count on. That's why I didn't have her killed outright. This way, she could still live - without the extra's I had planned for her, but she'd carry the pain in her heart like I had.

The bullets contained the blood. Charmed by a Moroi water user I'd found in a backstreet somewhere. They'd been addicted to bites, no better than a feeder, and I'm sure they used some voodoo or something. I didn't care, I just wanted her to suffer. So, unlike they thought, it wasn't a contaminated blood transfusion, or a nurse who'd done it deliberately. No, I'd had the bullets specially made. They were hollow, and once they'd entered her body, they broke in half, releasing the blood that was held safely inside. Once that got into her system it was like a virus, infecting all of her cells and making them into copies that would create more copies that would make even more copies. And she wouldn't know until it was too late.

I had the cure that would kill the virus off, that would enable her to live her life without the complications of this "unknown illness", but she had to mess it up. Had to ignore the fact that I was giving her a fair choice. And Dimitri made it even worse; seeing that look in his eyes, when I revealed myself, it was almost unbearable. But despite the fact that I could save her if he picked me, he still chose her; chose her when he knew that doing so was sealing her death. And that hurt more than all the past rejections, the reminders that we were just friends and that he didn't want to ruin what we had.

But once she died, that would change. Things would go back the way they were, and we'd be happy together. So I sat back and waited.


	12. Chapter 12

Thank you to LittleDhampir123 for this chapter's idea. I hope you like the way it turned out. xx

I have to say that I'm really shocked. I thought that chapter would make everyone feel sorry for Tasha; but now you seem to hate her even more! :D hehe lol, I suppose she does deserve it... anyways enjoy! xx

Nadia, that whole review made me laugh :D I was giggling for five minutes straight. Xx

Peggy, I have no idea why she seems to think her crazy scheme will work. Yep, everyone knows its Tasha who did it to Rose; but she's gone into hiding. So atm, everyone's on the lookout, and if she gets caught, then they'll be able to get the cure.

hehe nicole :D I still don't know how this story is gonna end. There'll be a happy ending deffo, I can't bear to end it sadly; but whether Tasha gets caught or not, we'll just have to see... hehe lol I wanna go check that website out now! And here's the next chapter, so you don't need to punch me! :D hope you like it xx

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy, its characters or content.**

We ended up helping out at St. Basils for the next two months, and now we had a week left until we went back to Court. The classes had gone well, much better than I'd expected, especially since Greg wasn't allowed to come to training while Dimitri and I were there. According to Nicole, he'd been on the verge of getting expelled, and it was only the fact that he was one of the best in his class that convinced Headmaster Borovsky to allow him to stay. There'd been no more trouble from Dee either. She was in Dimitri's group; but after the little scene in the cafeteria, she dressed appropriately and trained hard.

She was actually a very talented fighter, and I could see that if she kept up with the training we were putting her through, she had the potential to be assigned to one of the more important Moroi once she graduated. Of course, I caught sight of her staring after Dimitri wistfully sometimes, but that was her and most of the girls in the entire school. The man was gorgeous, of course they'd all fantasise about him. I'd even heard one of the year seven's sigh with longing and say to one of her friends, "He's the complete package. He's beautiful, strong, kind and controlled. Yesterday he was working with some of the primary school children, and he was so patient and encouraging; it was amazing to watch. I hope I find someone like that when I'm older. Guardian Hathaway is so lucky."

We had three more days of teaching at the Academy, which would be followed by another three with Olena and the rest of the family before we had to leave.

We would be setting up a mini trial for the students on the last day to test their skills and see how they'd improved over the time we'd been here. It would give them the chance to prove how much they'd learned and help us to give them any last minute pointers. It would also help to prepare them for their trials in a few months' time and help them understand exactly what sort of situations they might face. It wasn't going to be as complex as the real trial. They would have obstacles to dodge around and would have to face against either Dimitri or I. If Dimitri was the Strigoi, I would be acting as their charge. If I was the Strigoi, Dimitri would be their charge.

Today's training session was going well, and at the moment, my students were practicing their staking. They'd come a long way since I'd first taught them. They'd been awkward and clumsy, as well as uncoordinated; and from what I'd seen of Dimitri's group, they hadn't been much better. But now their movements were more fluid and controlled, even if they didn't quite have the power they needed to push right through the ribcage and pierce the heart. But with more practice and focus, we were certain that they'd all be able to do it.

Once it got to eleven-thirty, Dimitri stopped his group and they joined us in the gym to help my group pack away. Normally, both groups finished at twelve-fifteen so they could change while we tidied up; but today they were going to watch us spar.

Once they'd all packed away, Dimitri stood at the front of the room to call for their attention. "We know you're probably wondering why we stopped you so early. Today, Guardian Hathaway and I are going to spar, while you watch. We will be hitting above the neck; which you are not allowed to do unless you are in a real fight. You can once you graduate, but only with the permission of your sparring partner." There were whistles and cheers, which made me laugh. "However, it does need to tie into your training somehow. So, while you watch, we want you to take notice of the things that we do well, and the things that could be improved upon. Who won and why? What could the person who lost have done better? Just general feedback; but remember it will help you to analyze and improve upon your own techniques and skills. So can you please surround the sparring area; make sure you take a few steps back from the edge so you don't get hit accidentally."

While he'd been talking I'd had flash of inspiration and slipped over to whisper in Nicole's ear. That girl had a mind just as vile as mine, so of course she'd agreed to my idea before passing on the message to Kenaz and the rest of the students.

Grinning, I stepped into the circle to face Dimitri. "You ready to get your butt kicked, comrade? So soon after the campfire?"

He just chuckled at me. "Sure thing, Roza; and if I remember correctly, it was me who won at the campfire. Not you."

"Nope comrade, I think the age is starting to get to you. It was definitely me who won. Maybe you're delusional. Should I get the doctor so he can check your memory before I kick your ass too badly?"

Because we'd stayed on campus, some of the students had seen us walking around holding hands, or kissing on the field when we had free time to ourselves. We weren't going to hide our relationship, so we'd carried on as if we were at Court. It was nice to sit in the sun when the students were asleep and talk and kiss like usual. Of course, a couple of students had been sneaking around after curfew, so they'd seen, and after that _everyone_ knew. Teachers, guardians and students alike. Gossip travels fast.

So most of the novices just laughed when they heard what I was saying. There were even shouts of encouragement. The majority of the guys were on my side; and of course, all the girls were rooting for Dimitri. I wasn't fussed though; it would just make it even more satisfying when I won.

Still smiling, we began to circle each other, and all the chatter stopped immediately. There was pure silence as the students all waited to see who would win out of 'the two most kick-ass guardians ever. I swear they're as good as Arthur Schoenberg'. Those were another student's words, not mine.

I took in everything about Dimitri; his stance, the way his weight was balanced, which hand he held slightly further forward than the other. All of these factors helped me to anticipate what he was going to do first, and looking up at his face, I could see he was doing the same thing. It made me smile; and that was when I attacked.

I leapt forward, striking out with my fist; but the aim wasn't to hit him, it was to push him back. His reactions were fast though, and I could see in his eyes that he knew what I'd tried to do, so he spun to the side before sweeping his feet along the ground to catch my legs while I was still unbalanced. I jumped over his legs and backed up a few steps. We were circling again before he attacked. And then all I could do was focus on the fight. His fist flew towards my face too fast for me to count. My blocks were good, and so neither of us were losing any ground. If I took a step back, he pressed forward; but I caught him sharply in the ribs with a roundhouse kick that evened the floor back up again.

My kicks were stronger than my punches; whereas Dimitri had better upper body strength. Every time one of us made a hit, the students would gasp and inch in closer until we grew closer to the edge of the circle and they'd step back to avoid getting hit themselves. After ten minutes, Dimitri caught me sharply across my jaw and followed it up with a kick to my stomach. I fell backwards, but hooked my feet through his legs as I fell, taking him down at the same time. Because I fell first, I was able to scramble up onto his chest to pin his arms. "Ha comr-"

He somehow managed to lift one of his legs around the front of my chest and push me away, using his momentum to flip us over and pin me down. His grin was triumphant, and I heard a mixture of groans and a cheer from the students as they thought the fight was over. But all I could focus on was the position we were in. And instead of focusing on trying to break free, all I wanted to do was yank his mouth down on mine and take him on the gym floor. Meeting his eyes, I could tell that the same thoughts were running through his head, which helped clear mine up slightly.

Flashing Dimitri a sly grin, I enjoyed seeing the confusion that flickered across his face for a second, especially after I yelled, "TAG TEAM HIM NOW!"

Nicole had done a good job at spreading my message, because as soon as I finished shouting, almost every student ran forward. "Wha-" was all Dimitri managed to get out before he was yanked off of me and pinned to the floor. I grinned as I took in the scene before me: Dimitri flat on his back with students sitting on his arms and legs to make sure he couldn't move. Others were standing warily, in case he managed to get up, and one was even holding his head still, so all he could see was my gigantic smile.

Smirking, I walked over and sat on his chest, before placing two fingers over his heart. "I win."


	13. Chapter 13

Hey guys I'm so sorry I didn't update yesterday like I promised to; but I was completely stuck for ideas for this chapter! I knew what I wanted to happen, but I just couldn't get it out =[ I still don't like it; so I understand if you hate it too.

Please check out **The Right Thing** by **lovedimitri**. It's an amazing story! And **Ain't No Other Man** by **DimitrixXxLover**. They're both brilliant!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy.**

13. Dimitri was pissed off.

And when we got back to our room that evening, yep he was still pissed. Added to the fact that he was angry; he was giving me the silent treatment. Which normally would have worked; and made me apologise, _if_ I didn't find the whole scene hilarious. Sure, as he said, it wasn't fair to get the whole class to gang up on him; nor was it 'beneficial to their training'. But it had been damn funny to watch; and the expression on his face when they pinned him was priceless. Just thinking about it brought another round of giggles to my lips, which earnt me a sharp glare from Dimitri. I definitely won't be getting any kisses tonight. But despite the fact that it was going to get me into even more trouble I just couldn't help myself.

Tasha POV.

I was bored of waiting. It had been a year since I'd given my ultimatum to Dimitri- join me, or watch Rose die. And he still continued to stay with her.

I'd heard from a few of my still-loyal contacts that the Court's doctors had developed some medication for _her_. It apparently eased the condition; but it wasn't a cure. It wasn't _the_ cure. They could make as many different trials and versions as they liked; but it wouldn't make any difference. She would still be sick, and Dimitri _would_ be mine. What they didn't know, was that the longer she went without the cure, the worse her symptoms became. They were building, progressing; and the only thing the medicine did, was stop her body from feeling their effects. It was an inhibitor of some sorts, a plug on the effects of the illness. But what happens when you block something? It builds and builds and builds, until weaknesses form. And once those weaknesses form, cracks begin to appear. And once those cracks have broken the surface, the entire structure collapses. And what was held back before comes bursting out at full force, destroying whatever was left.

Once she stopped taking her medication, or missed a dose, this would happen. And no amount of medicine, or chemotherapy would be able to help. She'd be better off dead if she didn't accept the inevitable; hand over Dimitri and take the cur with a smile on her face and a thank you on her lips.

But I could be patient. I could wait a little longer. After all, I'd waited this long, a few more months couldn't hurt, could they? So I began my countdown; they would have three months. Three months to make the right choice and contact me before I came to them.

Rose POV:

It was the last day of our extended holiday. The doctor had arrived at the airport before we had, so all of his luggage had already been placed on the plane. Now our luggage was being checked and loaded while we said our goodbyes.

Karolina and Viktoria hugged me at the same time, similar to when we first met. Grinning I squeezed them back before kissing them both on the cheeks. "Thank you for helping me have such a good time. It was brilliant meeting you both; and I can't wait until you come over to visit, or we can come back. Hopefully, I'll see you soon."

Karolina gave me a kiss on the cheek and whispered. "Thank you Rose. You're family now; and you've made my little brother so happy. No matter how much he looks out for me, I still want what's best for me, and that's you."

Before I got a chance to reply, Viktoria had yanked me out of Karolina's arms so she could hug me again "I'm really going to miss you Rose. You've been like a big sister to me. But I know you've got to get back to your jobs. So until I see you again, I just wish you both the best of luck with your relationship and with your health. I hope it continues to improve as the time passes."

Then I was in Olena's arms. "Roza, you're part of the family now. So don't be afraid to come back and visit, or call, about anything at all. Thank you for showing my Dimka what it truly means to love; and for making him so happy."

I could feel the tears building; but I swallowed them down so I could reply. "Thank you Olena. That really means a lot to me; and thank you for making me feel like a part of your family, for accepting me."

"It was my pleasure Roza. You were a part of this family from the first day Dimka mentioned your name; and you will always be welcome. Now before you get on your plane, I think Yeva wanted to talk to you."

Looking round I saw Yeva standing a slightly apart from the rest of the family. Once I walked over, she surprised me by reaching up and hugging me as well. Hesitantly, I placed my arms round her small frame and gently hugged her back before we broke apart. Looking into my eyes, she patted my cheek before she spoke. "Don't forget my words Roza. _'__Anything is possible once you open your mind to it. You are a possibility and impossibility. A home is nothing without children, Roza. Open your mind, and your heart'._" Don't forget my dream. Your path is intertwined with Dimitri's. His challenges are yours and yours his. Use each others strengths to pull yourselves through, and your weaknesses to hold you together. Have a safe trip; and keep each other close."

I knew by now not to question Yeva's advice. Instead, I kissed her on the cheek before whispering. "Thank you. For the advice, and for believing in Dimitri and I. Hopefully I'll see you again soon Yeva."

As I straightened up, I noticed Sonya talking to Dimitri. His face was impassive; but I could see the pain in his eyes. They hadn't spoken since she'd slapped him; and it was hurting him to treat her in that way. Sighing, I picked up my carry-on and walked over to where they were standing.

When he saw me coming Dimitri shook his head, to warn me off, but I fixed my gaze on Sonya's. When she saw me, her eyes seemed regretful; but as I stopped in front of her, the disdain started to seep into her features again. Until I spoke.

"Cut the crap Sonya. I know you don't like me; and I don't particularly like you either, but get over it. I haven't done anything to you; and I'm fed up of tiptoeing around in case I do something that'll irritate you anymore than simply living does. This might be the only chance you get to see Dimitri for the next couple of years; and it's been ruined. So before we go, either get whatever grudge you're holding against me off your chest, or let's forget this whole thing and start again. Because whether you like it or not, I. Love. Dimitri. With my whole heart; and you acting like a spoilt brat won't change that."

**Sorry that I've left it like that. I am writing the next chapter right now! Unfortunately, it won't be up until tomorrow morning if I can finish it before I leave :S If I can't then it won't be posted until Saturday, because I've got university Open Day's, so I'm staying at my aunties house- and she doesn't have a computer. But I promise to try to get to one! If I can't then I'll update three chapter's on Saturday =] xx**


	14. Chapter 14

Thank you! And shout outs as promised to you all; gracefish21, DarkRomanceAddict, Crazy Runner, IloveCeci, Katherine-Rose-Rulz, DimitrixXxLover, Aiko no Kaze, snowdrop0594, GoldenIvy, Baddass Hathaway, lulumarie02, RoseElla, Vampire Crazz, HappyEndingsAddict, iloveyoudimitri, rivereq, LittleDhampir123, PeaceRoseG'ladheon, JennyTran195, DaughterofPosiden373, tmonkey726, cubanamerican, LadyGraceC, moki-miko, crystal49s, Sweet-Chi-Chi, LostInLoveAlways, bookluver4ever, nadia callanan, nicole, jessie80, peggy, PlantNerd92, abhi9, Mangagurl301, missa27, Thomagata, Goddess Life, vamplitlvr, snowgoose, Mishy boo, laineylane03 and zoey0316.

Aww, thank you CrazyRunner! I'm rele glad you liked it; and I hope you like this chapter too!

You might just be onto something peggy, we'll just have to watch and see how it turns out! Xx

I hate writer's block! Ugh, on Saturday I was too stressed out to write anything good :'( so I'm very sorry for the long wait. I really do appreciate you all still reading this story. Xx

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy, its characters or content.**

14. The rest of the family seemed worried at my outburst, but I kept my gaze on Sonya's.

"I don't care if you hate me Sonya; but I do care if it hurts Dimitri. And whether you realise it or not, Dimitri and your family are the ones getting hurt the most by this fallout; not me. Your family's been split into two. Sure, I was ill for a couple of days. Yes, I was isolated from everyone in town. But I've been dealing with it for the past year, on a much larger scale. This doesn't affect me. But you and your family are the ones who'll still be here. You'll be the ones treated like lepers after I've left, and they don't deserve that. So I'm not going to get angry, or aggressive or in your face. I'm going to give you the choice. I can either get on this plane and never come back to Baia." Dimitri started to protest, but I held my hand up to cut him off. "Or we can decide to start over, and give each other a fair chance. If you don't want me to come back, I won't. Dimitri can, and I'll stay in a hotel out of town, so that Olena and the others can come over to visit."

Sonya looked shocked at what I'd said, and there was silence for a few minutes as I waited for her to make a decision. It seemed like she wasn't going to say anything; so I sighed and turned to Dimitri. "Let's go. We've all tried and now I just want to go home." Nodding, he took my hand and we started towards the plane. As we reached the stairs she finally spoke. "I'm sorry."

Surprised I turned back to face her as she continued to speak. "You're both right and I apologise for the way I treated you Rose. I admit, it was extremely childish; and I said and did a lot of things that I shouldn't have. You've done nothing wrong to me, and as mama said, you're a member of this family. That means I should have believed your word over a stupid court rumour. And I do want you to know that I never doubted your love for Dimitri - I was jealous, but that doesn't justify my actions. I'm sorry to you too Dimka. I know it'll take you a long time to forgive me and trust me; but I do want you, and Rose, to come back again."

Looking at Dimitri out of the corner of my eye, he seemed conflicted and Sonya's face turned anxious. But after a few minutes, he stepped forwards and hugged her. "I'm glad to hear you say that Sonya. Thank you for apologising to Roza."

Following Dimitri's lead I also stepped over; but I didn't hug her. It was too soon for us to be that close, but perhaps, with time we'd be able to move past it. Instead, I gave her a small smile. "I'm glad too Sonya. Hopefully next time, we'll start on much better terms."

Giving everyone one last hug goodbye we finally made it onto the plane and into our seats. The three months had passed much faster than I'd anticipated, and I was sad to leave. But the excitement flowing through the bond stopped me from feeling too upset. Lissa knew we wee coming back today, and I couldn't wait to see her again.

The journey back to court was much shorter than the one to Baia; but it still bored me. Until the doctor started t talk about my recent test results.

"What do you mean something strange has shown up in my blood work?"

"All I know is that when I took some of your blood samples after, well after you were unable to take your medicine and we gave you the new trial, something different was in your blood."

"Well what crap did you put in the medicine that's messed with my body? I haven't felt like anything's wrong, so it can't be bad can it?" I knew my voice had turned pleading and Dimitri was trying to calm me down; but I couldn't bear to go through the effects I'd suffered the first time around.

"The medicine isn't what's caused the change in your blood. The samples I took as soon as I arrived are exactly the same as the samples I took after we gave you the medicine. It's in both of them. Which means, it's something that your body's produced. I can't analyse the blood properly until I get back to court."

"So does that mean that I'm okay? It's nothing to do with my illness?"

"We can't be certain until we've run all the tests; but I'm pretty sure that it's nothing to do with your illness. However, that does concern me; because I don't know what it is, or how it will affect your illness. It'll take a week at most for us to collect all the results. If you feel okay, then you can carry on with your normal life; but make sure you come down the hospital next week sometime so I can go over what your results mean."

So in a situation similar to the one I'd been in when I'd first been diagnosed, I was sitting in the doctor's office; waiting for him to give me back my test results. I'd only asked Dimitri to come with me; and none of the others knew about this appointment. I didn't want to worry them if it was something minor; and if it was something serious; I wanted the chance to absorb the news alone.

"So doc. What's wrong with me this time?" I was prepared for the worst; and Dimitri was gripping my hand tightly, which showed how nervous he was too. But the doctor had a huge smile on his face.

"Actually Rose, it's all good. There's been no change in your illness; the improvements since you started this latest version of medication have stayed the same. What the blood work did show; was high levels of Human Chorionic Gonadotrophin, HCG for short." He must have seen the blank look on my face because he laughed before continuing. "Te body only starts to secrete this hormone once an egg is fertilised. May I be the first to congratulate you."

"Wait, you mean I'm pregnant? Not sick?" I wanted to believe it; that Yeva's dream was coming true, but I didn't want to find that it wasn't true. I couldn't let myself think that Dimitri and I were finally able to have our happy ever after without any more problems. And what about the fact that she'd seen two sides? One with a baby and one without, how would not having a baby cure me? She'd said that anything was possible. But what had she meant about the challenges? I didn't know what to think; so I tuned back in to what the doctor was saying.

"No you're not sick Rose. Well, not sicker than you already are. But yes, you are pregnant. Now before I give you the next piece of, what I hope you'll think is good news, I need to ask you something. And I need you to answer it honestly."

"There's more good news? The only thing better than having a baby would be hearing that I'd won the lottery, and that all the strigoi were dead." I was rambling, but I didn't care. All I could think about was the fact that I was having a baby. Mine and Dimitri's baby. Baby Belikov. The thought brought a smile to my lips, and I rested my hand on my stomach gently. "Yes I'll answer honestly. Or I won't answer at all. It depends on the question."

"I simply need to know which moroi is the father."

Laughter bubbled from my lips; and I felt Dimitri relax. "Dimitri's the father." But the doctor frowned at me.

"Rose, I'm serious. Who is the father? This information will seriously affect what I'm about to tell you."

"I'm serious too. Dimitri is the only person I've slept with. He's the only person I'd ever want to sleep with. I'm not a bloodwhore slut, contrary to what everyone else seems to think."

Now he just looked confused. "But… but that doesn't make sense. A dhampir can't conceive from another dhampir. It's genetically impossible. Are you sure?"

"You're the doctor, not me. And yes I'm sure. I'd never, ever cheat on Dimitri. And I don't want children with anyone else but him; so I was fine with not ever having children. But if you're saying that I'm pregnant, by some strange twist of fate, I'm pregnant. What was the other good news you had to give me? Maybe that'll explain how it happened."

It seemed to reassure him slightly, and he nodded before glancing down at his papers. Dimitri squeezed my hand gently before kissing my cheek. "I'm shocked Roza; but so pleased. Yeva's dream did come true. I'm sorry that it's happened so soon; you didn't want to stop guarding the princess yet, but I can't deny the fact that I'm so happy. Now we can have a family of our own, and that's something I can't be sad about."

Thinking about it, I could see that he was right. I took his hand and placed it on my stomach. "I was worried before, and scared, and nervous. But now, I'm excited too. It's the one thing I always wanted to give you; and I felt terrible for taking that chance away from you, but now I'm just so pleased that I can give you a family. It might be our only baby, and a lot earlier than we expected; but I want to keep it, no matter what."

Unfortunately, the doctor interrupted before Dimitri could reply.

"The other piece of good news was that we think we may have found a cure for your illness."

**I'm writing the next chapter now! I promised three chapters yesterday, but I had writers block since Thursday so nothing got written :'( But ha ha! I've gotten my inspiration back and I can't stop typing. Even though I'm supposed to be doing my French homework. Oh well…**

**Thank you for reading! The next chapter will be up v. soon! xx**


	15. Chapter 15

I officially hate my computer. It is the most rubbish computer ever, with the most rubbish internet connection. I'm sorry that it refused to let me onto the internet to update earlier. :'(

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy.**

_Your path is intertwined with Dimitri's. His challenges are yours and yours his. Use each others strengths to pull yourselves through, and your weaknesses to hold you together. Have a safe trip; and keep each other close._

15. "The other piece of good news was that we think we may have found a cure for your illness."

The doctors words were all I could think of, running round and round my head. For a year, we'd been hoping, praying to hear these exact words. Yet something at the back of my mind couldn't let me become too excited. After everything that had happened over the past year, there had to be a catch. Some small loophole that we didn't yet know about; and I didn't want to celebrate until I knew what it was.

"But, it is a very serious solution, one that shouldn't be taken lightly."

"Look, before you start with the cryptic warnings just tell us what the cure is. Then we can make an informed decision."

"Embryonic stem cells."

"What? From the little science that I remember, stem cells don't exactly grow on trees."

The doctor's face was sad as he nodded. "No they don't. They're new cells that haven't specialised yet; and they're only found in two places. At the base of the spine in adults, or in an embryo."

The pieces still weren't fitting together for me. "So you're going to use someone's baby to make a cure?" Beside me Dimitri tensed, but I still didn't understand.

"No Rose. A baby shares half of its genetic material with its mother and half of its genetic material with its father. Using another couple's baby won't help you. You're the only one affected by your disease. Your baby shares half of your genetic material; so we think that it is the only embryo able to provide stem cells that will be able to cure you."

"But I don't understand why that's a problem. The baby will be able to help me; and then the pregnancy will continue as normal. There's nothing wrong with that unless it'll harm the baby; how far along am I?"

The doctors frown grew even more as he said gently. "Rose, if we do use this treatment to cure you, your baby won't survive. The levels of HCG aren't too high, so I'd say around four to six weeks. To take the stem cells; the embryo wouldn't live. You have to make the choice whether to take this chance to cure yourself; and see if you can fall pregnant again. Or you can have your baby, but we may not ever find another cure."

And there was the catch.

"I'll leave you two alone for a few minutes to consider your options. If you're going to try for a cure; we need to start quickly."

"You don't need to leave." The doctor paused on his way out.

"Do you want me here to offer my opinion while you talk?"

I shook my head. "No. I mean, you don't need to leave because it's not going to happen."

His face sowed complete surprise. "But I thought this was what you both wanted most. To find a cure."

I shook my head again, and Dimitri spoke. "We did, and still do want to find a cure. But not at the expense of our child. We can't give u our baby. And you yourself aren't completely sure that it'll work. We can't take that risk and we can't give up our baby. Yes, it may be the only chance we get at finding a cure; but we know for definite that it's the only chance we'll get to have a family."

Nodding, I added to what Dimitri was saying. "I can't be that selfish. I can't take my baby's life to extend mine; and I can't take this chance away from Dimitri. I have medicine and treatments that help me to live my life normally; so I'll keep them." To Dimitri I said. "I understand Yeva's dream now - about our baby giving her life to save mine. But I also understand the second half of her dream. And if there's a chance for us to have that sort of life, I'll take it." Turning back to the doctor I smiled. "Thank you for the offer; but no thank you. I'll see you next week to get the refill if my tablets."

* * *

Tasha POV.

I'd heard from my contacts that Rose and Dimitri had recently arrived back at court from a cosy little get away. Apparently they'd gone to Russia for a few months. Well, I hoped they were enjoying it while it lasted. Building as many memories as they could in the short time they had left together.

Three more months until I paid them a visit. Three months left for them to make the smart choice. My patience was wearing thin; and if Rose didn't give Dimitri up before I left to see them, I'd take Dimitri without giving her the cure. I was fed up with sitting in the background. This time I would be centre stage with Dimitri by my side; and _she_ could skulk in the shadows.

Besides, without Dimitri, no one would want to know her anyway.

Perhaps we could hire her as a maid? No; I didn't want her anywhere near Dimitri. She'd use her, I don't even know what it was that attracted them to each other, but she'd use it to win him back. Maybe I could use her for target practice? I bet he wouldn't be so fond of her if her skin was blistered and burnt. If her eyelashes were singed off? Sunburnt to the extreme.

But I didn't want to kill her. No, I wanted her to suffer long and hard, like I had. To feel that ever encroaching loneliness; the one that overwhelmed you and pulled you under when you least expected it. I'd gone through it. I'd been fine when I'd looked after Christian; but once I'd sent him to the Academy, it had started. Had grown until I couldn't breathe on my own. Till it had started to suffocate me; and pull me underneath the tide.

But Dimitri had saved me. He'd been there for me, and pulled me up, out of the tides that threatened to drown me. Shielded me from the opposition that tried to overrule me.

And then he'd gone too. And it had started again. It _couldn't_ start again. I wouldn't allow it to. I needed Dimitri, and he would be mine. Nothing and nobody would be able to stop me.

* * *

Rose POV.

It had been a little over three months since we'd arrived back from Russia; so I was roughly five months pregnant. The morning sickness hadn't been too strong; and I craved anything with sugar in. Fruit, sweets, breads; it was all good. We'd moved from our apartment into one a three bedroom house. One for Dimitri and I, one for the baby when she arrived, and one as a guest room.

The courts had been pretty lenient with my maternity leave. Normally, I'd have been given a desk job until I was six or seven months gone; but instead they gave me paid leave as soon as I told them I was pregnant; as well as a years paid leave once I'd had the baby. Surprisingly, they were allowing Dimitri to take six months off after the birth; but he would only be paid half of his normal salary.

So until the birth; he'd been working extra shifts, so we could save as much extra money as possible. While he was working, I'd been putting the baby's room together. The cot was made along with the rest of the furniture. Dimitri had helped me to paint the walls a summery yellow.

Despite the fact that we knew we were going to have a baby girl, I didn't want to fill the room to the brim with pink. I wasn't a huge fan of it; and everything that Lissa bought had pink incorporated into it somehow. She could do all the girly stuff; I wanted to teach my daughter how to be her own person. If she could take the best aspects of my personality and Dimitri's, she'd be amazing.

Lying back on the sofa, I stoked my stomach gently, and felt a soft tap in return. She'd started to kick recently, and she did it a lot. They felt like little taps against my stomach, and she definitely seemed to move more whenever Dimitri was around. I'd been worried at first, thinking that perhaps she was moving around too much, and that something was wrong; but the doctor reassured me that it was perfectly normal. Some babies just moved more than others; but I needed to keep track of her movements in case they started to decrease. That's when there might be problems.

But so far everything had been fine. Everyone said that I was glowing, but I was just so excited. The baby was healthy; the scans hadn't picked up anything abnormal. Dimitri was excited too; and we'd already let our families know that there was another Belikov on the way. My mother was coming to court a few weeks before my due date; and Dimitri's family was going to come over a couple of weeks after I'd had the baby. My condition was still steady; and the doctor thought there might have even been an improvement. They were checking my blood work; but I didn't care. I was simply so happy to be finally giving Dimitri the one thing that we'd craved most.

Grinning, I thought back to the evening after we'd announced my pregnancy.

*FLASHBACK*

Once we'd arrived back at our room we'd started packing. Knowing that I was nearly two months gone didn't leave much time until I'd have to stop any serious training; and since we needed a bigger apartment; it was better to do it sooner rather than later. I knew that Dimitri would be fine with moving it all on his own; but I wanted to help out as much as I could. That evening we'd called everyone up to our room.

Most of the smaller furnishings were boxed up; and the room looked plain. But we'd already arranged to move into our new house in a few days time. Over dinner we told the others our news; and though they were confused at how the baby was Dimitri's, they were still pleased and very supportive. No matter what fears I'd held over whether or not Id made the right choice, I could see the positive effect this baby was having on everyone.

Once they'd all left to go back to their rooms and all the mess had been cleared away; I'd pulled Dimitri into the shower with me. The pregnancy hormones were playing havoc with my moods; and at that moment I'd felt incredibly horny.

Stepping underneath the water, I watched Dimitri as he undressed and came to join me. I wanted to show him how much I loved him and so; I took my time. I wanted it to be sensual as well as sexual, to show him without words just how much I appreciated him.

I squeezed some of the shower gel into the palm of my hand before gently cleaning his chest. He started to reach for the gel so he could wash me too, but I shook my head. "No, just relax and enjoy it." Smiling, he let his arms fall back to his sides as I worked the soap up, over the contours of his chest and down his arms. Gently, I massaged his muscles as I cleaned him, and he let out a sigh. The muscles in his back were tense from the shifts he'd been working; s I took extra time to work out the kinks, focusing on the pressure points until I felt that his whole upper body was relaxed.

Kneeling down, I repeated the action with his legs; relaxing the defined muscles and applying slight pressure to remove the tension. Once they were done I stood up and directed him back into the water to rinse off. But he pulled me into his arms as he stepped back.

(M scene starts here. So skip the rest of the chapter if you don't like em.)

His dark eyes showed all the gratitude he couldn't say as he pressed his lips to mine. The kiss had been sweet and tender. I felt him trace the outline of my mouth with his tongue; and I deepened the kiss, before slipping my arms around his neck to hold him closer.

His leg slipped between mine and I felt a flash of heat; that grew as he traced a pattern up my waistline to my breast. I'd let out a low moan; and felt him shiver in return before he lifted me completely and placed me against the wall.

Wrapping both of my legs around his waist I felt a groan slip from between his teeth; and his hand continued with what it had been doing a moment before. It wasn't rushed; but it wasn't too slow either. The relaxed pace, and the gentleness of his movements did the same things to my body that his strength and ferocity usually did, and I moaned his name letting him know I was ready for him.

He pulled back slightly to look at me; but in those few seconds I already missed the feel of his chest pressed up against mine. "I love you Roza." His voice had deepened; and it only increased the fire that was starting to burn me up inside.

"I love you too comrade." Was all I managed to gasp out, before I felt him move and enter me. It was still gentle but sent thrills through my body as he slid into me slowly, until he was buried in me, fully, before pulling back out again. I moaned as he moved away; and this time, when he thrust into me, it was slightly faster and more forceful.

I wrapped my legs round his waist even tighter as he pierced me again, and slowly I rocked my hips against his; causing him to cry out. His thrusts continued, each time becoming slightly faster and harder; and I met him thrust for thrust as he pushed into me; all the while increasing the coil of pleasure I could feel growing.

As I grew closer to my climax I felt his grip tighten on my hips; and I knew that he'd almost reached his orgasm too. I bucked my hips against his with more force this time; and his grip tightened even more until it was on the verge of pain, yet all it did was push me closer towards my own release.

Groaning, I felt him thrust into me one last time as my body exploded and I screamed his name as I felt my orgasm rocket through me. Dimly, I felt Dimitri as he found his release at the same time and he moaned into my shoulder.

There were still small after shocks running through my body; as I stroked his hair and he lifted his face to mine to touch my lips in a gentle kiss.

*END FLASHBACK.*

**I think that there's only gonna be one more chapter :'( Maybe two; it depends on how it turns out when I'm writing. I hope you enjoyed this chapter! xx**


	16. Chapter 16

It's official. I HATE my crappy laptop, with its completely unreliable, crappy internet connection. I had this chapter typed up and ready to post; and for three hours straight the damn thing wouldn't even let me open up my freaking email -( and then when it finally let me on at 11pm -( I could only reply to one persons review :'( So I'm posting this up a day late because my stupid computer is a piece of crap! Anyways, I hope you like this chapter! xx

Nadia, aha I'm glad you liked it! You know which part I'm talking about ;) I never thought of that option for the baby… but the only thing is that dhampirs don't have powers :'( the baby's completely normal; except it has two dhampir parents. Hehe Tasha's just getting crazier and crazier, so I don't know if that'll be possible! It's freaky, because she's making sense; it's just in an obsessive way :D

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy, its characters or content.**

15. Tasha POV.

I was in. The three months had passed quickly; and all of my time was taken up with my arrangements to get into court un-noticed. I hadn't spoken to any of my contacts since I'd heard Rose and Dimitri were back from Russia. We couldn't risk being caught when we were so close to getting what we truly wanted. For me, it was Dimitri. For them, it was the large sum of money that would be deposited into their bank accounts as soon as the job was over.

I'd cut my hair into a short bob; and with a tight hoodie and skinny jeans, from the back I looked a lot younger than I actually was. Hopefully I would be able to use this to my advantage.

They had, however, organised a distraction when the guards opened the court gates. I was hidden behind one of the delivery trucks, and once they had set off their distraction the guards didn't notice me slip past them and into the main courtyard. From there I pulled my hood up over my head and hid in the shadows.

* * *

I was hidden in an old part of court that wasn't used very often, and had fallen into disrepair. From there I was hidden away from sight; and so far I'd only been seen by a couple of teenagers, looking for somewhere to fool around. A slight touch of compulsion made them forget I was there; and convinced them to bring me some food and news of the court every day. I felt bad using them like that; they probably ha other things they wanted to be doing; but it was more important that I had someone following Rose and Dimitri around; recording their daily routines so that I could make my move at the most opportune time.

It took another two weeks before I felt that I was ready to take Rose on and win. The food in court was much better than what I'd been living on for the past year; despite the splendour that I'd been living in. I didn't want to spend too much of my money- it would be down to me to pay Dimitri's wages once he became my guardian; and I had to pay my contacts for their help. I was going to kill them shortly afterwards- I couldn't risk them using their knowledge to blackmail me; but it was most likely they would still have time to use what they'd earnt, before I got to them.

Rose had stopped working; and from the way people acted around her, it seemed like she hadn't been guarding for quite some time now. Of course, Dimitri was covering extra shifts; he was like that, so generous and dedicated. But that wouldn't be the only reason why. _She_ was so selfish; quitting work, which meant he had to work even harder than he already did. Living at court wasn't cheap; and with only one person working their money would soon run out; especially on the small salaries that guardians were given.

That was another reason Dimitri should have picked me; I could give him a larger salary; and a family, and a chance at a normal life. With my fire, I could protect myself slightly better, and though Christian was also a fire user; he was engaged to Lissa. Dimitri's focus would shift to her if they were attacked; and that would make him vulnerable. But, the other ting that really irritated me; other than the fact that Dimitri was working so hard, was that Rose was simply lazing around.

She wasn't working, wasn't doing anything to contribute towards their life together; and it was making her fat. I'd always been under the impression that she wasn't lazy; but all she'd done for the past few weeks; was hang around with Lissa, take up Dimitri's free time and go to the doctor. Yes, she was 'ill' but they weren't going to make any scientific breakthroughs in a few days; which made me wonder why she kept going back.

Maybe she was having some sort of affair with the doctor in charge of her case. That would be just like her; filled with ingratitude at the fact that Dimitri was slaving away to try and keep her in the lifestyle she'd become accustomed to, while she got her kicks somewhere else. She would pay for that. I'd make sure of it. Besides, it would be another thing to add to the list when Dimitri realised just how much I'd saved him.

Finally, I got my chance. The princess was going out of court overnight; and of course, Christian was accompanying her. So, Dimitri was going too. Unsurprisingly, Rose was staying back at court- it fitted in perfectly with her new lazy lifestyle. They left early that morning, just before the sun started to set; and whilst they said their goodbyes I snuck up to Rose and Dimitri's new house. They had no idea how appropriate their goodbyes really were.

Entering the place, I decided against setting anything up in the living room. It was the first place that she would see; and I wanted my visit to be a surprise. So I didn't touch anything, and moved into the kitchen. Now this was good. The floor was tiled- good for cleaning p any 'spills' that might occur; and there was no worktop in the middle of the floor. That would make it much easier for me to catch her if she decided to try and escape before I was finished. Looking through the cupboards, they had plenty of sharp knives that would come in handy. Glancing at my watch I saw that Lissa's plane was about to leave. I would only have a few more minutes before Rose arrived back to the room.

Quickly, I ran into their dining room to grab two of the chairs; and placed them in the middle of the floor. I had rope at hand ready to tie her up if she wasn't going to be compliant. Two minutes left.

Figuring that I might as well try to set a good example, I set up two cups of tea; and even had the courtesy to take out their biscuit tin. Just as I set the tin down, the front door opened and shut. Holding my breath, I heard as she moved into the front room and dropped what sounded like a bag on the floor.

Footsteps echoed along the hallway as she got closer to the kitchen, before pausing slightly as the door swung open and she froze.

"Hello Rose."

**It's short, and I hate that I've left it with a cliffhanger; but I gotta go babysit. It was supposed to be longer, but I didn't finish the next part :'( Once I get home; I'll finish it off and post it up! xx**


	17. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy, its characters or content.**

Rose POV.

Waking up earlier than Dimitri for once, I smiled as I watched him sleeping peacefully. He looked so calm and relaxed; which made me feel guilty. He'd been working so hard the past couple of weeks, but had refused to take any time off. I knew that it was to help us save as much money before the baby arrived; but it didn't make me feel any better, knowing that he was working so hard because of me.

He was leaving in a couple of hours to accompany Lissa and Christian along with a few other guardians on a two day trip to one of the academies in Ohio. By order of Queen Bitch. Although they'd only be gone for one night; and hadn't even left yet, I was already missing Dimitri. The thought of him being gone was making me feel uneasy; but it wasn't just that. For the past couple of weeks, I'd felt like I was being watched, followed by someone, but I hadn't seen anything out of the ordinary. Of course, I'd been just as oblivious leading up to getting shot at the mall; which didn't really help me feel any better. The only consolation was the knowledge that Tasha wasn't in court. There was no way she could sneak around without someone catching sight and raising the alarm.

But that still didn't shake the feeling that someone was tracking my movements. And knowing that Dimitri would be gone, even for one night, made me even more edgy. I didn't like to admit it to anyone; but Dimitri made me feel safe, protected; and without him here, I was scared that something really bad would happen. But I didn't want to worry Dimitri unnecessarily. If he knew I was feeling like this, he'd pull out of the trip; and it was better for him to go with Lissa. I'd be protected by the wards; and it was only got one night. Sighing, I curled back into his chest, smiling as I felt his arms wrap around me; protecting me even while he slept.

* * *

Sighing, I made my way back through court after waving Dimitri, Lissa and Christian off. It was going to be lonely without them here; but I wasn't allowed to fly while pregnant, so I'd had to stay behind. The pregnancy was making me even more tired than usual, so I'd probably end up sleeping for the majority of the time that they were away. Trudging up the stairs, my stomach rumbled. Okay, I'd stuff myself full of food, and then sleep the next two days away.

I dumped my bag on the floor before pulling on one of Dimitri's shirts that were lying around the house. Well, I'd thrown it there earlier when I was giving him his 'goodbye, have a safe trip and come back soon' present. Needless to say, he'd left with a smile on his face, and just as eager to get back as I was to have him home. Grinning at the thought of what he'd do, I opened the door to the kitchen and froze; not believing my eyes.

Maybe I was still asleep; and what had started as an okay dream was slowly turning into a nightmare. If I started to scream, Dimitri would wake me up, and everything would be okay. But then she spoke the words that told me I wasn't in a nightmare.

"Hello Rose."

**Okay, I just had to be a huge meanie! And it's really short. But don't worry, I'm just finishing off the next bit and it'll be posted up. xx**


	18. Chapter 18

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy, its characters or content.**

"Hello Rose."

In my dreams, she didn't speak to me like that. She flew into an angry rage, hurling fireballs at me and trying to claw my face off; before taunting me with the cure, knowing that I wouldn't beat her face in and risk losing the cure.

But she didn't do any of those things. Instead she sat perched on one of our dining chairs, watching me carefully with a slight smile on her face. When I didn't react the smile dropped; and she seemed disappointed. But something about her was off; I didn't know what it was, but all my instincts were screaming at me to run as far away as possible; and for once, I wasn't going to ignore them.

As I stepped back; her gaze snapped to my foot, and I froze again. Her movements didn't seem human; the way she watched me reminded me of a predator, carefully monitoring the movements of their prey before they moved in for the kill.

There was no way in hell I was going to act like some poor, defenceless animal; so I straightened up and took in her appearance. She'd cut her hair; and to tell the truth, it looked good on her. It defined her high cheekbones and showcased the slimness of her face. Her eyes seemed bright, and her skin was slightly flushed, giving her a healthy glow; but I couldn't figure out why she seemed so excited. Perhaps it was the fact that she'd somehow gotten into court without anybody noticing. Continuing my assessment, I saw that she was wearing a black hoodie, and jogging bottoms with trainers.

That made my fear spike. She wasn't dressed like she used to; in feminine clothes that showed of her slight frame. These were nondescript clothes; clothes that lots of people wore at court, especially dhampirs who were working out, or the moroi who trained excessively at the gym. Tasha hadn't broken into my house to see if I wanted to work out. She was here to fight, or do something worse, and those clothes would help her to blend in with the rest of the courts inhabitants when she escaped.

My eyes moved back up to her face to find her watching me again. Her head cocked to the side, with an amused smile playing across her lips. What could she honestly find funny in this situation? Didn't she realise that I was about to call for a guardian, kick her ass while I waited for them to turn up, and then enjoy watching her get dragged to prison, preferably kicking and screaming? But it was starting to creep me out; the way she simply sat at the worktop, occasionally sipping at the tea placed in front of her, all the while watching me with that small amused smile.

Again, I considered backing out of the room slowly; but her voice stopped me in my tracks. Before Tasha's voice had been smooth and clear. She was a strong willed woman; and her voice had shown that, had been filled with confidence and power. But now; it wasn't her voice that had changed so much as its tone. She sounded desperate; frantic almost, despite the calm persona she seemed to have adopted. Yet, there was an underlying sense of calm when she spoke that made my stomach crawl. "Now, now Rose. There's no need to be frightened and run away. I've simply come to have a little talk with you, and take what I'm owed." She motioned for me to sit in the seat opposite her. "We're both mature adults; I'm sure we can have a civil conversation. I even made tea to help us get started."

Had she truly lost her mind? "You infected me with some untreatable bug, threatened me and Dimitri, broke into our house, and are sat in our kitchen after rifling through the cupboards, and then expect me to sit and have a conversation with you? You're crazy if you think I'm going to do anything that you say Tasha."

Her smile only widened as I spoke. And once I finished she actually laughed. "Maybe I am Rose. I've been told by several of my… associates that I'm crazy, obsessed, and even creepy; but I really don't care. They're only words after all. I've heard worse- 'strigoi lover, scar face, traitor, strigoi wannabe', it doesn't get to me anymore. Now I don't think you quite understood me before. You can sit down by your own choice, or I can make you."

That made me laugh. "You'll make me. Just how the hell do you think you're gonna do that?" She didn't have anything she could threaten me with. Dimitri wasn't in court; and neither was Lissa or Christian. Unless she knew about the baby, I held all the cards.

"It's simple really. I got in here once Rose; and I'll do it again. I'll come back when some more of your friends are around; or maybe when Dimka gets back home." Fear gripped my throat as she hopped of the chair and took a few steps towards me. "I just wanted to give you the chance to resolve this peacefully. No one needs to get hurt, so long as you do as I say."

"You won't get anywhere near them Tasha. Now sit back down unless you want both sides of your face to match."

I was bluffing. I'd seen her fight before; and she was actually pretty skilled. Plus she had her magic. If she'd really come here for a fight, it would be a close match. I scanned the room quickly, but of course everything had been tidied away. Dimitri was a complete neat freak; years of living in a small room made him keep everything packed away until it was needed. I groaned internally. I'd told him that we needed a phone line in the kitchen; but he'd insisted that one in the front room and another in the bedroom was more than enough.

Of course, when you had a complete psycho in your house, you didn't really have time to stroll to the phone. Just as I was estimating whether I could sprint to the phone and dial for help before Tasha caught up to me she spoke. "I wouldn't bother wasting your energy dear. The phone lines are… out of service in this house. I wanted to make sure we have no interruptions." Her voice had been pleasant, but now it turned cold. "I'm not going to ask again. Please take a seat."

Numbly, I nodded and stepped over to one of the chairs but my mind was frantic. The only way I could think to escape was to try and knock her out or hit her hard enough to stun her, and then make a break for the door. Glancing at the clock, I could see that there were five minutes left till the guards patrolled this corridor. If I could keep her distracted for that amount of time; if I was lucky, when I ran out, somebody would be there.

Tasha POV.

I was surprised. She'd been stubborn like I'd expected; but she'd given in pretty quickly. All the sitting around had made her weak. Why was Dimitri still with her? He needed someone who was his equal; who he could lean on when times got hard. But now wasn't the time to think about him. It would only distract me; giving her the chance to gain the upper hand and escape.

At the moment she was sitting on the edge of the chair, glancing around and avoiding eye contact. She was trying to avoid me using compulsion over her. I hadn't even thought about using that; but I wouldn't have, even if I had thought of it. I wanted Dimitri to come to me willingly; not because he couldn't think for himself. And really, compulsion was no fun. If Rose was going to suffer, I wanted her to remember all of it.

Neither of us spoke for a long while. I studied her over my teacup; while she avoided my gaze. Her hair had grown even longer; falling in soft waves. It was a petty the chemotherapy I'd heard about hadn't made it all fall out. I'd bet everything I owned that Dimitri wouldn't still find her attractive with a shiny bald head. Her skin was flushed slightly; and she almost seemed to, glow, if you could call it that. I suppose that's what living on the right side of life did to you. Feeling good on the inside always makes you look better on the outside; and in her case it was true.

Her body still looked toned; but she'd filled out around her stomach. I wondered briefly, just how Dimitri felt about that. He'd always admired my slim waist. Perhaps he'd told her that she needed to lose a few pounds; and that's why she'd stayed at home. The thought that she might be pregnant passed through my mind; but I dismissed it quickly. She couldn't have children with Dimitri; and even if she was sleeping with her doctor, I doubted that she was so stupid as to fall pregnant. There would be no way that the doctor would support her and the child; and she wouldn't risk losing Dimitri.

I shut my eyes for a minute, imagining Dimitri's arms wrapped around me, holding my stomach which held our baby. That would soon be our future, and I couldn't wait.

And that was my fatal mistake.

I felt the rush of air and my eyes snapped open. Instinctively, I brought my arm up to dodge the punch and ducked my head at the same time. The martial arts training came in handy sometimes; and I saw the surprise flash across her face as I caught hold of her wrist and twisted. There was a popping sound; and then I heard Rose's scream.

But I didn't have time to stop. I couldn't stop. I shouldn't have closed my eyes, even for a second. I'd known that if she saw a chance, she'd taken it; and I'd still slipped up. That punch had been close; and now her wrist was broken. But I still couldn't stop myself from moving. Still gripping her wrist, I wrenched her arm behind her back; yanking her back into her seat. Her other arm swung out of nowhere; and connected with the side of my face, sending me crashing into one of the cupboards; and I let my instincts take over.

Spinning, I kicked out at her stomach, which she blocked; but she used her right arm- the one that was injured. So she stumbled back a few steps; and I used the few seconds to rush towards her, grab her arm and yank her back towards me. She slammed into the worktop; and a cry slipped from between her teeth; but I still couldn't stop. I clutched her shoulders; using her momentum to push her down into the chair; and grabbing the rope in between my two hands I pulled it taught against her neck.

Instantly she froze, knowing that I could cut off her air supply easily; and I took that advantage to hiss into her ear. "If you move even an inch, you're dead." Her posture didn't change, and I quickly fastened her wrists behind her back. Moving around to secure her legs she tried to kick me, but I sank my fangs into her leg. I hadn't meant to do it; but the fight had tired me; and the sound of her heart pumping was too alluring. Besides, I wasn't able to just pop down to the feeders whenever I liked, and hearing the small yelp of pain when I pierced her skin made me smile in satisfaction.

A small moan slipped from her lips as the endorphins hit her system; and a small smile crossed her face. I quickly secured her feet to the legs of the chair before biting her properly. I'd always been 'told to make do and mend'; and what better way to start my revenge? Plus, her blood tasted slightly sweeter than the blood from the feeders. I didn't know whether that was due to the fact that she was a dhampir, not human, or something else; but at that moment I didn't care.

I was so thirsty, and drinking from Rose, I could understand why some moroi couldn't stop themselves from draining their 'donors' completely. But I definitely didn't want to become a strigoi, so I stopped myself. Looking at her face; her eyelids were drooping from the huge amount of endorphins that were whizzing around her system.

I'd thought that she'd be used to it by now; after all, she was a little blood whore in the making. I'd heard like everyone else that she'd fed the princess when they'd ran away; and from her reputation at school, I wouldn't have been surprised if she'd let all the guys drink from her as well. Her pulse was sluggish, but steady, so I knew she wasn't going to die from blood loss before I'd even started with her.

As I stood back; she lifted her head to look me in the eye. She was drowsy and about to fall asleep; but the hate was clear. Instead of returning the glare, I smiled sweetly at her. "Nighty, night Rose. I'll see you when you wake up."


	19. Chapter 19

I'm sorry that it has taken me almost a week to post up this chapter! I hope you haven't given up on this story; and that you're still enjoying it; and again, I'm very sorry! Xx

Thank you to: gracefish21, DarkRomanceAddict, Crazy Runner, IloveCeci, Katherine-Rose-Rulz, DimitrixXxLover, Aiko no Kaze, snowdrop0594, GoldenIvy, Baddass Hathaway, lulumarie02, RoseElla,

Vampire Crazz, HappyEndingsAddict, iloveyoudimitri, rivereq, LittleDhampir123, PeaceRoseG'ladheon, JennyTran195, DaughterofPosiden373, tmonkey726, cubanamerican,

LadyGraceC, moki-miko, crystal49s, Sweet-Chi-Chi, LostInLoveAlways, bookluver4ever, nadia callanan, nicole, jessie80, peggy, PlantNerd92, abhi9,

Mangagurl301, missa27, Thomagata, Goddess Life, vamplitlvr, snowgoose, deliciouse, Mishy boo, laineylane03, zoe0316, vampirelover081, Narcissa1Malfoy1, ShadowkissedAngel, amberrosalie and Vampire-Academy 4ever!

**Disclaimer: I don't own VA.**

19. Rose POV.

Groaning, I opened my eyes to see that I was sat in the kitchen. My head was spinning slightly, bringing back memories of the hangovers I'd suffered through after going to house parties with Lissa while we'd been on the run. Glancing at the clock, I could see that it was just gone midnight; which meant that I'd completely missed Dimitri's call. I must have sat for a minute and fallen asleep. My stomach rumbled, so I'd call Dimitri while I made something to eat; he'd probably be on a flight back home, worried at why I didn't answer. Straining to get up, I looked down in confusion; until I saw why I'd been unable to stand. My arms were pinned tightly to the back of the chair and my feet were bound to the chair legs. An ache in my leg brought all the memories back.

That bitch had been in my kitchen. She'd finally lost the plot, and broken into our house; and then when I'd tried to escape, she'd bitten me. Looking down, I could see dried blood staining my jeans; which meant she'd probably ripped my skin. Well if she was bonkers, she wouldn't really care about being gentle. My wrist was numb; so she'd definitely broken it and from the tightness of the rope; she was cutting off my circulation. So my leg was weakened, which meant my kicks wouldn't be as good. I could kick with my left, but my balance would be worse; and if I balanced on my left, the bite and blood loss would make the kick from my right less powerful. She'd broken my wrist which meant I'd have to rely on my left arm, the weakest side of my body. If I thought that it would be difficult to escape before I was injured; it would be almost impossible now.

And my stomach felt bruised. Fear crawled up my spine as I realised what that meant. She'd thrown me into the counter too quickly for me to shield my stomach- the baby could be hurt. I was almost in my sixth month; and I'd read an article that said if I got hit in the stomach, the baby's brain might get damaged; which meant it could die. Tears started to slide down my cheeks and my breath hitched. If the she didn't survive I didn't know what would happen. This was our only chance to have a baby; if Dimitri came back to find that I'd miscarried… It would kill him. A sob broke out of my chest as I pictured his face. He would try to be strong for me; but it would break him apart. He wouldn't blame me, would try to comfort me instead; but it would be my own fault if she was hurt in any way. I wasn't strong enough to look after our baby. Hell, I wasn't even strong enough to look after myself. I couldn't protect our baby when she needed me most; it was my duty to protect her; while she was still inside me.

The tears were running freely down my cheeks now, so I didn't hear Tasha enter the kitchen. Her nails dug into my skull as she yanked my head back, but my vision was still blurred by the tears.

"Awww, are you frightened Rose? Have you finally realised that Dimitri's not coming to save you this time? Now can we talk; and actually have a conversation without you trying to hit me and escape?"

I couldn't answer and just let out another sob. I hadn't felt the baby move at all since I'd woken up. If she was dead, I didn't care what Tasha did to me.

"Do you know what your problem is Rose? You're weak. You're weak and selfish. You don't deserve Dimka. You've never deserved him. I don't know what you did in the first place to even turn his head; but it won't work anymore. Dimitri is mine. Mine! I can give him all the things you can't. Now what I really want to know is _why_ he stayed with you?"

While she'd been talking the tears had slowed, and anger had started to build in my chest. I glared at her and sat up straight. "He stayed with me Tasha, because he loved me, loves me and will always love me. He stayed with me because I love him just as much if not more. Because we love each other, and we can't bear to be apart. Because I'm not a crazy-"

She'd been calm, but her mask was beginning to crack, and her face actually looked pained. "It's not true! He loves me, he just doesn't realise it. Stop lying!"

"I'm not lying. You're deluding yourself Tasha. He hates you!"

"No he doesn't! He loves me!" Her voice was rising; and I knew I should probably have backed off so she could calm down, but I couldn't stop the words from pouring out of my mouth.

"He hates you because you're a psycho who poisoned his girlfriend because you can't handle rejection! He stayed with me because he couldn't leave with you, whilst knowing that his heart was somewhere else, with someone else. He hates you Tasha! He loves me!"

"Shut up!" Her voice was a shriek and I felt her fist connect with the side of my face sharply, knocking my head to the side. "Shut up, shut up, shut up! It's not true!" Every shout was punctuated with a slap, or a punch, or a scratch across my face.

Despite the fact that I knew my entire face was already starting to swell, I couldn't resist the chance to finally get under her skin. "But it is true Tasha. You know it is. You're desperate and lonely, and you've convinced yourself that Dimitri's the one who's gonna take it away from you. What's wrong? Is your biological clock ticking? Doesn't anyone want to have kids with you Tasha? Are you frightened that you're going to die alone and unloved?" She was frozen now, staring at me with shock. "Well, sorry to burst your bubble, but it's true. If no ones asked you by now, they probably never will. If Dimitri had wanted you Tasha; he would have left when he had the chance. Move on and accept that you're nothing but a jealous, crazy, skinny bitch who's going to die old and alone."

Fury played across her features as she took a step towards me, and shamefully I cringed back into my seat. Despite my harsh words, she still had the upper hand, and with me tied up, there was no way to defend myself. She stretched out her hand, and a flame danced across her palm.

"I'm going to burn you Rose. You think that you're so strong, but let's see how you fare when we step it up a notch. She moved her palm closer to my face, so I could feel the heat against my cheek. "Should I tell you what I'm going to do or not?" She seemed to think for a minute before smiling. "I think I will tell you. That way, you'll know exactly what's coming for you, and I'm pretty sure your imagination will frighten you even more."

_Bang. Bang. Bang._

We both froze, and turned to stare at the door. But it wasn't the door to the kitchen that was being knocked; it was the front door.

"Little Dhampir open up! I know you're in there!"

Adrian! My heart soared and I opened my mouth to shout back. "Adrian! Get help, Tas-" I was cut off by a think rope being shoved into my moth to gag me. I was still trying to shout, but it was muffled. Adrian probably wouldn't have heard me anyway. The kitchen was furthest from the front door, and I doubted that the sound would carry.

_Bang. Bang. Bang._

He knocked again. "Rose? This isn't funny. I know you're probably just sleeping, but Belikov's getting worried. I've not seen you around court at all. So please… just let me in so I can see you're okay, and he'll stop ringing me every five minutes." There was a pause as he waited to see if I would answer.

I was straining against my restraints; still trying to yell despite the gag in my mouth. "Rose?" He sounded uncertain, and I prayed that he wouldn't leave. "Look, Little Dhampir, if you've had an argument and don't want to talk to him then that's ok; but please just ring him. I don't think you have, because he sounded really hurt when he rang me. Rose, he's been alternating between calling you and calling me for the past two hours; that's not like you. Just let one of us know that you're alright."

I was sobbing now. Dimitri had been trying to call me since he'd landed, and now he thought I was just ignoring him. I thrashed, trying to break free from the bonds, to make any sort of noise that Adrian might hear.

But Tasha had done a good job. I was fixed tightly to the chair, and my heart sank as I heard Adrian sigh once more. "Well if you change your mind, you know where I am. I'll see you later."

And there was silence.

**Next chapter will be up tomorrow but**** it's A LOT shorter than it was supposed to be. Anyways, thank you for reading! xx**


	20. Chapter 20

20. Adrian POV.

I'd been sitting in one of the bars at court for the past hour, trying to figure out where the hell Rose could be.

All I knew was that something wasn't right. Rose complained about my continual persistence, and refusal to take a hint, but she'd never ignored me like that. In the four years that I'd known her, she'd never ignored anyone like that, no matter how pissed off she was. And for her to be ignoring Belikov, something serious was up.

They were all over each other normally; and from what I'd seen, they'd left on _extremely_ good terms. So why was she ignoring his calls? She wouldn't.

I hadn't seen her around court, which meant she'd be in their house; but then I hadn't heard anything there. I thought she'd shouted my name, but when I'd waited to see if I was imagining things no sound came. Something might have happened to the baby. She'd never forgive herself if anything had happened and maybe that's why she was ignoring Belikov's calls. Because she was too afraid to tell him. But she knew that he'd never blame her. It wouldn't be her fault; and if something had happened, why didn't she let me in so I could heal her?

I was frightened that she'd maybe fallen and knocked herself out. She'd certainly become a lot clumsier since she'd started to develop a bump; but none of us dared say anything. Hell, she'd almost ripped Belikov's head from his shoulders when he suggested that she take a break from any sort of training. Those mood swings were scary.

She was happy one second, then sad, and then her aura would turn red and she'd be dragging Belikov into the bedroom. He was a lucky guy, and he knew it.

Suddenly it hit me. I was such an idiot for not checking for her aura!

I'd been about to check the gym, but it was more likely that she was in her room. I'd ring Belikov and let him know while I headed over there. He'd know where she'd be, if she wasn't in their house.

Just as I pulled my phone out, it started to ring. Perfect timing. "Before you ask, no I haven't seen or heard from her yet. But I think I may have figured out a way to find her." He didn't say anything, and usually I'd have drawn the wait out a little longer, and enjoyed the fact that I had something he needed, but this was more important than silly power battles. "I didn't check for her aura when I passed by the room earlier, so I'm gonna go and check now. Can you think of anywhere else she might go, if she's not there?"

His voice sounded thoughtful. "The only other place she might go would be to the swimming baths, since she's not allowed to train too much anymore. Since I'm not there, she might have snuck off to the gym, hoping to get some 'real training' done without me knowing; or she might have gone to a restaurant. But I doubt it, because we're trying to save as much as possible. If she's not in any of those three, the only other place I can think of is that she's looking for you; and you keep missing each other."

I hadn't thought of that. Maybe I should have stayed in my room and waited for her. "Okay, I'll check your place first, then the others. If she's not there; I'll ring you and go back to my room to wait. Hopefully, I'll be ringing with good news."

"Okay, thank you Adrian. I really do appreciate all the trouble you're going to, to help Roza." There was genuine appreciation in his voice, so I bit back what I was about to say.

"It's alright Belikov. I'll speak to you in a while anyway."

I was almost at Rose's room now. I only hoped she was in there.

**I know it's a lot shorter than I planned, but the school libraries about to close. So I'll try and update again when I get home! Hope you liked it anyway. The next chapter will pick up from chapter 19 in either Rose or Tasha POV. xx**


	21. Chapter 21

Have any of you read Kisses From Hell? Richelle Mead wrote on of the stories in it; and I'm wondering if it's tied into the Vampire Academy series because the main character is **ERIC DRAGOMIR**. Hmmm, maybe it's got clues about the last book in?... I can't wait to read it and find out!

This chapter picks up from chapter 19.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy, its characters or content.**

Tasha POV.

21. That had been close. I'd forgotten that damn brat Ivashkov had taken to hanging around Rose. She was probably sleeping with him too. He was persistent too. I was surprised Dimka hadn't banned her from seeing him; but he was always generous, too generous for his own good. Finally though, the boy got fed up and left. He said he'd see her later, but I knew he wouldn't.

Well, technically speaking, he would. But she wouldn't see him. I'd decided. I was going to kill Rose, to eliminate my problem once and for all, and then Dimka would be mine anyway. It was better to start now, just in case he decided to come back again. I wouldn't have time to talk to Rose, and gain all the information I needed, but I'd get what I came for.

My head was spinning slightly, which was strange. But I figured it was just excitement, and nerves about the fact that my plan was finally coming to fruition. After all those years of yearning, Dimka would finally be mine. Hmmm, I'd start with Rose's face, and work my way down her body. Lighting the tips of my fingers, I watched the fire dance. It was so incredibly beautiful, yet very few people saw its true beauty. The rawness held inside even the tiniest flame. I wondered vaguely if Rose understood. She probably didn't, and while I had the time, I might as well explain it to her. Better you die informed, than ignorant.

"Fire's so beautiful isn't it? Hypnotic almost; luring the bearer into a sense of false security. So strong and powerful, yet it's one of the weakest elements to weld. It tires you easily, but that can be cured with a little blood donation from a willing, or unwilling host." I grinned widely at her, exposing my fangs. "It can do so much, is revered worldwide. Seen as a symbol of strength, passion, love, lust, anger, protection, danger… all powerful. It's hard to tame, to control. It's alive, unlike the other elements; and does as it wants. But, if you hold the same desires as the flame, it's easy to command. So strong, yet, it's defeated by the simplest thing. How can something so small; three tiny molecules, destroy something so immense?"

I'd started to get carried away. It was only that I felt tired; and I'd struggled to keep my train of thought that I remembered what I'd been about to do. Focusing back on Rose I stepped towards her.

I don't know what I tripped over. But I stumbled over something. That was weird. It had hurt my knees when I stumbled, and I felt even more tired than a second ago. I hadn't done anything to make me so tired, yet I felt fatigued, like I'd been fighting for hours. But I'd just drunk from Rose a few hours ago, yet it felt like days. Typical slut, there was something dodgy about her blood.

_Crap._ Her blood. She was ill, and I'd drank from her. I hadn't even considered it a possibility that I could contract the disease the charm meant that only the blood was infected. I'd assumed that meant only her blood. But I'd ingested that blood. _Crap._ Well, it had taken two weeks for it to affect her fully. So I had more than enough time to finish her off, grab Dimka and get the cure to heal myself.

Looking back at Rose, I could see she wasn't paying any attention to what I'd been saying. That irritated me. So I gave her a little taste of what was to come and burned her cheek. The shock on her face made me want to laugh. She obviously hadn't expected me to really do it, but then her usual bravado came out.

"Is that all you've got Tasha? A few flames across my face. Please, that's what every bad guy does to their victims. Trying to destroy my looks won't get Dimitri on your side, he loves me for me, not what I look like. And if you 'love' him so much, you should know that you can't hurt me without hurting him." That really irritated me, so I sent a full shot of flames into her face.

They weren't actually burning her, but she didn't know that; and I heard the whimper that escaped. "I heard that Rose. That little whimper. You forget, my hearing is much better than yours. Don't worry though, your pride's still intact for the moment, I'll soon have you screaming for me to stop, to end it. This is just the warm up." I was enjoying myself now. It was nice to have this much power over someone.

So I set her entire body on fire, apart from her face this time. "Come on Rose, I want to hear you cry. If you beg nicely, I might be merciful and let you live. Or I might end the torture sooner, and give you a clean death."

"Go crawl under a rock and die Tasha. I'd rather jump off a cliff, than beg _you_ for anything."

"Really?" I increased the intensity of the flames and could smell as her hair started to singe. This would be fun.

* * *

Dimitri POV.

"We are sorry, but the person you are calling is unable to answer their phone right now. Please leave a message after the tone. To re-record your message key star at any time." _Beep._

Even though she hadn't answered the last hundred calls I'd made, I still left a message, just in case. "Roza? I don't know if it's something I've done, or haven't done; but please… just answer the phone. Or ring me. Just so I know you're okay. I can't get a flight back till this evening at the earliest, but Roza, if I don't hear from you in the next hour - I'm going to run all the way home to find out why you're not answering. Please… I love you."

Sighing, I hung up, shoved my phone back into my pocket and started pacing again. I'd been doing it for the past two hours, but moving helped. Something was off. Roza always answered her phone; and if she somehow missed a call, she'd ring back straight away. It wasn't possible for her to have missed all of my calls.

But I couldn't leave the Princess. Well I should say, I couldn't leave Lord Ozera, but she was more vulnerable, the higher priority. They were doing some sort of tour mixed in with official court business, and she needed to stay until tomorrow evening. So, of course, Christian was going to stay with her. I'd have done the same thing if it was Roza. But since I was assigned to Christian, wherever he went, I went. If he stayed, I stayed. And none of us could leave because of a hunch. Because we thought that something was wrong. We needed evidence to leave early. If the Princess left now, saying it was because her best friend wasn't answering her phone; and we arrived back to find Rose perfectly fine… The Queen wouldn't be happy. And Rose would kill Lissa; for worrying, for leaving early, and for getting in trouble…

But Lissa knew something was wrong. As I paced, she sat still. The only things that moved were her hands; fidgeting twisting, picking at the hem of her dress. She was composed, but as more time passed without contact from Rose, her anxiety was beginning to break through.

Her earlier words came into my mind again. "Something's wrong Dimitri. Seriously wrong. I feel too anxious for just me. It's _not_ just me, it's Rose. I don't know how, butt it's her."

But even that wasn't enough of a reason for us to be able to leave. So I'd put my trust in Adrian.

I could only hope he was worth it.

* * *

Rose POV.

As soon as Adrian left, my heart sank. He was so damn persistent all the time, why hadn't he kept knocking? I _was_ going to survive this. For my baby, for Dimitri, and so I could kick Adrian's ass afterwards for not breaking the door down.

But I could fantasize about beating the crap out of him later. Tasha had recovered from the shock of almost being caught, and had turned back to me.

The fire was dancing from her fingertips this time, and I kept my eyes on her hands as she spoke. "Fire's so beautiful isn't it? Hypnotic almost; luring the bearer into a sense of false security. So strong and powerful, yet it's one of the weakest elements to weld. It tires you easily, but that can be cured with a little blood donation from a willing, or unwilling host." She grinned widely at me, exposing her fangs. "It can do so much, is revered worldwide. Seen as a symbol of strength, passion, love, lust, anger, protection, danger… all powerful. It's hard to tame, to control. It's alive, unlike the other elements; and does as it wants. But, if you hold the same desires as the flame, it's easy to command. So strong, yet, it's defeated by the simplest thing. How can something so small; three tiny molecules, destroy something so immense?"

She snapped out of whatever trance she'd been in and focused back on me. I hadn't had any flashes of inspiration on how to escape, so I was relying on her making another mistake that I could exploit. But it seemed like she had everything from this point planned out. Still, I wasn't going down without a fight. Tossing my head back so my hair was out of my face, I watched a she stepped towards me.

Except, she stumbled. It wasn't a stumble as if she tripped' but more like she was too weak to walk properly. But she hadn't done anything major yet. Making a flame that small and maintaining it for a few minutes… that should have been easy. Effortless. But looking at her more closely, she was paler than she should have been. It almost reminded me of when I'd first been diagnosed.

But she couldn't be sick. She had the cure for goodness sakes! And she hadn't had any physical contact with me before I'd been diagnosed, so she couldn't have infected me personally.

Yet… she'd drunk from me a few hours earlier. And judging from the cold temperature in the house, she hadn't been practicing her magic while I'd been unconscious. So she should have been full of energy.

Instead, she was stumbling, and looked pale; as though she hadn't fed in days. Was it possible that my illness _could_ be passed on?

The doctors had taken blood samples, and tried to infect mice; but it hadn't worked. Did that mean my disease could only be transferred between people? Or more specifically, between people sharing blood? Maybe that was why Dimitri hadn't been infected by me.

I was broken out of my small reverie by a searing pain across my cheek. She'd actually done it! I clamped my lips together to stop myself from making any noise. There was no way in hell I would let her know how much I was hurting. If she was sick, maybe she'd tire out before she did anything to serious.

"Is that all you've got Tasha? A few flames across my face. Please, that's what every bad guy does to their victims. Trying to destroy my looks won't get Dimitri on your side, he loves me for me, not what I look like. And if you 'love' him so much, you should know that you can't hurt me without hurting him." **(thank you RoseElla for the line =]) **Then I got a full face of flames.

I couldn't help the whimper that escaped my lips, it just hurt too much. I could feel my skin blistering from the heat, but there was no smell. Then, just as quickly, the flames died down. And I realised, she hadn't actually set me on fire. She was torturing me, making me feel like I was burning, to draw out my suffering. And judging from the look on her face, she was enjoying it.

"I heard that Rose. That little whimper. You forget, my hearing is much better than yours. Don't worry though, your pride's still intact for the moment, I'll soon have you screaming for me to stop, to end it. This is just the warm up."

Flames licked at my body this time, but not my face. It was worse, because I could see where I was on fire; and feel the pain, but I knew that I wasn't really burning. So I held to that thought, and kept my screams locked up.

"Come on Rose, I want to hear you cry. If you beg nicely, I might be merciful and let you live. Or I might end the torture sooner, and give you a clean death."

"Go crawl under a rock and die Tasha. I'd rather jump off a cliff, than beg _you_ for anything."

"Really?" The intensity of the flames increased, and I could actually smell the hair on my arms as they started to singe. But I had hope. Tasha had bound me up with rope. Despite the fact that I wasn't burning terribly, they would be. Yanking at my arms, I felt them start to give way. If I could hold out for a minute more, they should have burnt through, and I'd be free. Then that bitch would get the beating she deserved.


	22. Chapter 22

Please read the one shot **Picnic** by **LittleDhampir123**. It's one of the sweetest stories I've ever read :')

I just watched Toy Story 3 for the first time! It's so sweet! :') who else has seen it?

I just realised that Tasha never removed Rose's gag! :D It just disappeared into thin air. So, in the interests of the story, we'll all pretend that Tasha took it off once she was sure Adrian was gone. Sorry about that! Ugh, I've been so tired this week I just couldn't think of how to write what I wanted. This fight scene is rubbish, so I'm apologising in advance. Sorry! xx

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**Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy, its characters or content.**

I was in agony. The ropes had broken, but I couldn't find the strength to even think about moving. For the last twenty minutes Tasha had been steadily increasing the heat of the flames on my body, and had now allowed them to start burning me in small increments.

From the different intensities of pain, I could tell that she'd allowed the soles of my feet to burn, and patches on my legs. I'd been wearing a t-shirt, and my left arm felt tight, like I'd been sunbathing just that little bit too long, and of course, my right wrist was still broken, so there was nothing I could do with it either.

All at once the flames stopped. But the slight relief I felt from the cool temperature of the apartment was swept away as the flames crashed over me again. "Come on Rose. Just one little scream, and I promise I'll end it."

The flames paused again, but this time I felt the cool metal of the knife as she sliced my arm again. She'd been doing this too, cutting me just enough to draw blood, but not enough to hurt me. And these cuts were the worst. They stung, but the pang was soothed as she licked the blood off. The coagulant in her saliva closed the cut, and it itched as it started to heal. There were no endorphins, since she hadn't bitten me; so the pain wasn't relieved completely, but it was eased.

She cut me a few more times on each am; licking the blood off each time, and then the flames started again. "You know what you need to say to make it end. I promised you that I'll end it if you just scream."

She'd been promising me since she started burning me. I knew she didn't mean it. She wanted me to scream to please her sick, twisted mind; to see me completely broken, and that was one thing I wasn't going to give her.

"No? You're still not going to?" I was biting my lip to stop myself from just giving in, and I felt a flame pass across my eyelids, and I could taste blood in my mouth.

Her nostrils flared, and I knew she could smell where I'd bitten my lip. "Actually, I'm feeling a little thirsty. How about you Rose?" The flames died down as she stepped towards me. "Remember what I said earlier? Well, if you don't, now you get to see my theory put into action. Like I said, it tires you easily. So are you going to be a willing, or unwilling host?"

This made sense. If she was sick, she'd be feeling tired, and probably breathless. Her face was flushed, but I figured that was from the heat more than any side effects. Still, if she _was_ sick, she could suffer like I had before they'd made my medicine.

This was my one and only chance to escape. "Remember what I said earlier?" I was mimicking her, and she knew it. "Go crawl under a rock and die Tasha."

She mock sighed before stepping towards me. "I thought you'd have learned by now Rose. It's so much easier to just do as I say."

"I thought _you'd_ have learned by now. I never do as I'm told." I just needed her to take a few more steps towards me. Last time, she'd been too far away, and had more time to react. I'd learnt from my mistakes, but it seemed like she hadn't because she came even closer. I wasn't sure I'd have the will power to even lift my fist, but thinking about what had happened last time, about my baby slamming against the tabletop; a surge of anger ran through me. I had to do this for her.

She took another step, and I grabbed her. Pain shot across the tight skin of my left arm, but I ignored it as I used my left leg to sweep her feet from underneath her. Normally, my left side was weakest, but this time it was my strongest and I knew I had to use it. Like in Spookane, I had to turn my defence into an offence.

As soon as she hit the ground I was on her. I was trying to pin her with my legs, but that wouldn't hold her once the shock wore off. So I pinned her as tightly as possible with my left hand, whilst whacking her with my right. Pain from my broken wrist was shooting up my arm in jolts, but still, my right arm held a lot more power than my left. I figured that since I couldn't move my hand, the effect of getting hit by it would be similar to getting hit with a club. Hopefully, that would be the effect she was feeling.

She was starting to struggle now. My original plan had been to hit her and run; but now that she was actually pinned, now that we'd switched roles… I wanted her to feel all the pain I'd felt over the last four years. The repeated fear that Dimitri would take her offer. In the mall when I'd been shot, the fear that I'd never see him again. That I was going to die when the doctor first diagnosed my condition. That Dimitri would leave after I was diagnosed. The court slander. The hurtful comments and isolation in Russia. Sonya's attitude. Worrying about Tasha's threats towards me and Dimitri. Finding Tasha in our house. And the fear that Dimitri would come home to find me and the baby both dead.

All of this fuelled my anger and I switched hands. These punches were more controlled, and on target. Her nose had broken, but I didn't care. The emotions were overwhelming me, similar to Lissa's darkness; and I couldn't stop myself.

_Bang. Bang. Bang._

Someone was at the door, and that made me pause. In the second that I looked up, Tasha elbowed me in the side of the face, and I rolled off her into a defensive crouch. This would be a fight to the death, and we both knew it.

Adrian POV.

I was almost at Rose's house now, and if I squinted really hard, I could see a few sparks of colour through the wall. It was weird, it almost looked as if there were two auras, but at least I knew she was in there. I pulled my phone out as I got closer, and Belikov answered straight away.

"Have you heard anything?" No 'Hello, how are you Adrian' but of course, he was worried about Rose. Despite the fact that he didn't like me very much, he was always polite.

"No, not yet. I'm almost there now, and I think I can see her." Or someone. "I'm almost at the door now." There were a few voices in the background. "Is that Lissa and Christian? If it isn't you should probably go somewhere a bit more private."

"No, it's just us three in here. Hang on a sec." There was more murmuring, and then his voice again. "The Princess wanted to hear what you had to say too, so you're on loudspeaker. Can you see Rose yet?"

"I'm outside the door now. It's weird though, there's two- hold on." I was sure that there were two auras. One of them was definitely Rose's, there were shadows surrounding it; but I couldn't place who the others was. And they were so close to each other, I would have thought they were Rose and Belikov in one of their many intimate moments. Yuck, that was wrong to think about on so many levels.

But Belikov wasn't here; and the colours in these auras weren't ones of happiness or lust. There was plenty of red in there, but it was a dark red. From what I could remember, dark red showed up in the auras of people who were angry, and filled with rage, malice and wrath. The last two were stronger in the second aura, the one without the shadows.

Rose's was surrounded by shadows, but the other reminded me of what her aura had looked like a year ago. Tinged with a dull, dingy yellow; it seemed like whoever she was fighting with was sick too. That sort of yellow represented decay and sickness, as well as jealousy; but it wasn't very strong. So they probably hadn't progressed as far as Rose had before we realised that something was wrong. But, there was a hell of a lot of dark green in there. Ambition, greed and jealousy were all traits of this particular colour.

But who could Rose be arguing with who would be feeling this way. Lots of women around court didn't like Rose because she was sick. Or because she had Belikov. Or for both reasons, and various others, but they weren't stupid enough to take her on. I pressed my ear to the door hoping to hear a voice I could identify as I relayed what I'd seen to the three listening at the other end of the phone.

"She's in there, but someone else is too. They're really angry at each other. From the positions they're in, I'd say it seems like they're fighting." Belikov's breathing cut off, and I took that advantage to try and listen into the house again. This time, I was lucky. Straining my hearing as far as it would go I heard someone speak. "I thought you'd have learned by now Rose. It's so much easier to just do as I say." And then Rose's smart assed voice replied. "I thought _you'd_ have learned by now. I never do as I'm told." It was faint, but I'd definitely heard them.

"Belikov. I was whispering into the phone in case they could hear me. The conversation sounded pretty deep, but I didn't want to risk Rose getting hurt. "There is someone in there, but I can't place the voice. It's so familiar, why can't I remember?"

"Adrian." His tone was soft. " Get out of there, and get a guardian. The Princess is making arrangements right now for a plane to take us back to court. We'll be there in a couple of hours. Don't go in there trying to-" I cut him off.

"It's Tasha. Damn Dimitri, why didn't I realise sooner? I thought the voice was so familiar. She's in there and she's got Rose. I can't just run off and leave her! She's probably the reason why you've not been able to get in touch with her."

"You're probably right. But you still can't rush in there. I know you want to help, but you don't have the training Adrian, and you might end up doing more harm than good."

"So what do you expect me to do. Ask a guardian to break in, and then wait while they mess around for hours because they can't be bothered to help her? You know what they think of Rose here in court Dimitri. They're not gonna burst a brain cell trying to figure out how to help her."

"You'll have to be sneaky Adrian. Okay, don't get the guardian, but try to create a distraction. It'll give Rose the chance to escape, and then you can grab Tasha before she escapes. If she's sick like you think, then she should be weak. Remember how much pain Rose was in after her training sessions? She should be like that."

"Well, what am I supposed to distract her with?" I was racking my brains desperately, trying to think of something that Rose would understand but would leave Tasha clueless. "I'll ask if she's taken her medicine today. Tasha knows that she's sick, but probably doesn't know that she has medication; and if she does know, she won't realise that Rose already took today's dose."

"That's a really good idea. Try it." He sounded surprised and slightly admiring which surprised me. But I had more important things to do.

_Bang. Bang. Bang._

There was no answer, but the two auras stopped moving for a second. I took that as my cue to grab their attention. "Rose? I told you I'd be back. Now let me in!" There was still no answer, so I forced a little insecurity into my voice. "Rose?.. We're all really worried about you. Did you forget to take your medicine again? I know you regress quickly, but if you open the door we'll go to the doctor and get you all fixed up."

My fingers were crossed, and I was praying that the plan had worked. Dimitri whispered "Has it worked?" And I almost jumped out of my skin. I'd completely forgotten that he was still on the phone.

"I think so. They've stopped fighting for the moment, but I think it irritated Tasha more than distracted her."

"Well try again. It's nearly sorted down this end, so we should be back soon."

"Rose. If you don't let me in then I'm going to go find some big burly guardians to come break the door down."

There was movement, but not the sort I'd been expecting. Then a surge of red through both the auras and they moved towards each other again.

"Belikov, where do you keep your spare key?"

"Under the Princesses doormat. Why?"

Because it looks like they've started fighting, and I'm going in there to stop it. Hurry and get back."

"Adrian, do-" I hung up and grabbed the key. All he would do is try to keep me out of the way until he got back. That wouldn't help Rose, and if she hadn't been able to answer the door for the past few hours, she obviously didn't have the upper hand.

This was where all my years of sneaking into the house after late night partying came in useful. The key turning in the lock didn't make a sound, and I eased into the house silently. To stand face to face with Natasha Ozera.

Rose POV.

The adrenaline pounding through my veins had temporarily washed the pain from my body. Or I was past the threshold of feeling, and my nerves had simply overloaded and shut down. We'd watched each other for a long moment, both of us waiting for the other to make the first move. It almost reminded me of my fight against Greg, and I only hoped that the outcome would be the same, minus the getting hit in the head part.

We were both all set to ignore the door and carry on fighting, but them we heard who it was at the door. "Rose? I told you I'd be back. Now let me in!"

He chose now to come back and try to stick to me like glue? Well Tasha was closest to the door, so I couldn't answer even if I wanted to.

He called me again, and this time he sounded really worried. "Rose?.. We're all really worried about you. Did you forget to take your medicine again? I know you regress quickly, but if you open the door we'll go to the doctor and get you all fixed up."

I focused on Tasha again. She'd been edging towards the door, and I knew she was going to either; run into another room, try to escape or hurt Adrian. None of those three were options I'd allow her to take.

But the guy just couldn't shut up. "Rose. If you don't let me in then I'm going to go find some big burly guardians to come break the door down."

Irritation flashed across her face. "He's persistent isn't he?"

I smirked back. "You're just jealous, because no one wants to see _you_."

"Yes well, I'm not a little bloodwhore slut, so I don't need to be _visited_." That was it. I'd been trying to keep my temper in check, but I'd had enough of her comments about m faithfulness to Dimitri were really starting to irritate me.

We were circling each other now, moving from the kitchen into the hallway. I was trying to manoeuvre her back into the kitchen where she'd be trapped, but she was very quick at moving away from the doorways. Keeping her options open.

She stumbled again, and I took that advantage to press forwards. She backed up a step, bumping into the doorframe. "There's nowhere to run Tasha. Are you going to stay and fight? Or leave like the coward you really are?"

The punch aimed at my face answered my question, and I grinned as I dodged it.

The pain was a distant memory as the anger burned through me, and I kicked her sharply across her ribs. I wanted to laugh as she flew backwards a few feet and landed by the front door. Glaring at me, she scrambled to her feet, and actually got a good punch to the side of my face, but I returned it still grinning widely as she spun and slammed into the door. That was for what she did to my baby earlier.

And then the front door opened.

Why Adrian felt the need to break into my house I don't know. But in the second that he broke in, we all froze. Adrian's gaze was locked on me, horror covering his features. I was watching Tasha, scared at what she might do; and though I couldn't see her face, it seemed like she was staring at Adrian.

It was only the door slamming shut behind him that made any of us move.

Tasha spun to face me, and from the calculating look in her eyes, I knew what she was going to do. "Adrian no, get out of the house now! Go get help!" I was running towards him, but he was frozen.

He must've been completely shocked at what he was seeing because the stupid idiot still didn't move when Tasha grabbed him by his neck.

"I told you Rose. Your friends would get hurt." That was when he finally moved, turning his head to look into her eyes.

"You aren't going to hurt me Tasha. You're going to let go of me, and go sit down in the front room." He was compulsing her! I stopped running, and moved back to give them some space. I didn't want to get affected too.

Her fingers twitched before loosening his collar, and I breathed out a silent sigh of relief as his gaze met mine again and he grinned. But then she shook her head slightly, and my jaw dropped.

Was she resisting the compulsion? I was praying that she wasn't one of those people who had such a strong will, that she'd be difficult. Adrian shot me a panicked glance before murmuring to her. "Tasha, look at me."

But she shook her head again, and turned her face away before tightening her grip on his shirt. Another shake, and she slammed him against the door before turning her head to grin at me triumphantly. "I told you."

And she sank her fangs into Adrian's neck.

It was a stupid thing to do, but I screamed. I'd been used to moroi biting dhampirs, and strigoi biting anyone; but to see a moroi bite another moroi. I wanted to throw up. She only bit him for a minute, but it seemed like hours.

And while I should have been doing something to stop her, running forward and yanking her away from Adrian; all I could think about was the fact that Adrian might now be infected.

I didn't know if it could be passed on that way, but if she was sick, she'd gotten it by drinking my blood, so maybe she could pass it on to someone else whose blood she drank. And did that mean, if Adrian was infected; that he'd then pass it on to whichever feeder he drank from. Who'd then pass it to the next vampire they drank from. It would be an unending circle, and pretty soon almost everyone in court would be infected.

She released him, and he crumpled to the floor. He was a moroi, used to taking the blood, not donating it. And all the while, I could only stare at his limp body in horror.

"Well that was different." I looked up at Tasha, shocked, to see her licking her fangs. "I've never tried a moroi before, not even in high school when it was cool to taste your classmates. But that was actually exquisite. Hmm, I might have to do it more often."

The shock I'd felt was fading now. How could she talk about it so calmly, so normally? "I feel amazing, much better than after I drank your blood. But I suppose that's to be expected." Her skin was brighter, her movements flowing much more easily, but I didn't care. She had hurt Adrian, one of my best friends, when all he'd done was try to help me. Whether she felt recharged or not, I was going to finish off kicking her ass.


	23. Chapter 23

Thank you so much to my amazing mother who helped me to get my ideas finally down on paper. This chapter wouldn't be anywhere as good without you! xx

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**Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy, its characters or content.**

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**This is the longest chapter I've ever written! I hope you like it! xx**

23. She'd made a fireball, and was throwing it gently into the air and catching it, similarly to the way that a bowler did during a cricket or baseball match. The action was lazy, effortless, after she'd drank from Adrian. The effect must have been similar to when strigoi drank from a moroi; moroi blood made them stronger.

But it wouldn't last for long. If she was sick, then the blood would only give her a temporary boost, kind of like the sugary snacks I'd taken after my workouts. She had no medicine, something I could use to my advantage. But my feet were frozen in place. All I could do was flick my gaze between Tasha and Adrian, praying that he'd wake up.

Glancing at her face quickly, I saw her triumphant grin had returned. "Well that was easy; he wasn't too hard to take out. It's a pity, I expected your suitors to put up more of a fight Rose. I didn't expect the compulsion though." With each word, she stepped closer and closer towards me. I wasn't sure if it was intentional, or if she planned to just blast the fireball into my face, to ruin my looks permanently. Did she still believe that ruining me physically would stop Dimitri from loving me?

"It's a pity he was holding back. I might not have been able to fight it; and you'd have been saved. I'm sure he'll learn from his mistakes though. Unfortunately for you Rose, you won't have such an opportunity." Her gaze turned predatory once again.

There was no way she was going to win this fight. She'd tried to kill me, and I'd dealt with it. She'd threatened Dimitri, and I'd held back. But now; after hurting my baby, and feeding off of Adrian, she'd taken it too far. She needed to be stopped, for her own good. I was going to fight, using the same technique as before. Once she was too close to back away, I would strike. I couldn't move just yet, my body was still locked stiff with shock at what had happened to Adrian, but I had hope that the anger would kick in and loosen my muscles once I needed them to.

She was still gloating, overjoyed with the thought of taking me out. "And now Rose, this is the end." Well those words were true. She was almost close enough for me to attack. This time, she wouldn't get a chance to escape. And as she smirked and took another step. "The end." My fist smashed directly into her nose.

Dimitri POV.

We were almost home. Once it was confirmed that Rose really was in trouble it took only a few minutes for the Princess to 'arrange' for the jet to be prepped to take us back. They'd just finished unloading, so we only needed to wait for the pilot to be found; and then we'd left.

I was pretty sure that the Princess had used a touch of compulsion when making the arrangements, but I didn't care. All I wanted was to be back in court, holding Rose safely in my arms after I'd ripped Tasha's head from her shoulders. If she'd hurt Roza or our baby… fear and anger rippled through me. There were no words to express how I'd feel. Death wouldn't be an option for her. I would torture her slowly, making sure all the pain she'd inflicted upon them was magnified a thousand times.

Up until a year ago I'd respected Tasha. She was one of my closest friends and I'd have trusted her with my life. I knew how she felt about me, and that she wanted more than just friendship; but I always made it clear that I didn't see her in the same way. Id considered it, at the ski lodge; but she knew that was all I'd done. Consider it. I'd known that by taking the position to be her guardian, it would mean a lot more. It would have shown that I wanted to be with her, to take the next step into a relationship; and like Roza said, to maybe have a family.

_Roza_. She'd been right that day in the training room, and on the balcony at the ski lodge, and even when she'd told me to take the offer. She'd always been right, and that day; she'd been incredibly selfless, more so than usual. She'd been prepared to give up, to let me go, to make me happy. To give me the opportunities she thought she couldn't. And that only made me love her more. I couldn't give her up; and in that moment, I realised I'd risk anything and everything to keep her. I hadn't cared about my job, about her job, or about the moroi. All I'd wanted was to run away with her like the Badica guardians had done. And then I'd almost lost her. Seeing her in Spookane, it was my worst nightmare. I'd known it was something she'd have to go through, but I'd never expected to have been there when it happened. To see the heartbreak across her face, my strong, independent, fierce Roza; so broken, it had made that urge even stronger. So I'd told Tasha I couldn't go. She'd accepted my decision; let me know that the offer would always be available. I thought she'd known that something had happened, and I wouldn't do it.

I'd never have realised that she'd actually expected me to change my mind, had been hoping that I'd change my mind. The yearly requests were irritating, but since I was as she put it 'so devoted to the art of guarding', I figured she was simply reminding me the offer was still there. And like everyone else, I'd breathed a sigh of relief when she didn't call. I'd felt like I could finally relax, and enjoy my life with Roza. But she'd ruined it. Not ruined it, but she'd almost broken that dream, which was slowly becoming a reality. She'd ruined Roza's life though. Yes, she'd been able to continue guarding; but Vasilisa was tipped to become the next queen. With the way that Rose's illness affected her, they wouldn't risk having a weak link in her guard if she did succeed Tatiana. We all knew it.

But we hoped that it wouldn't be the case. Vasilisa had been steadily going on dangerous trips and excursions, ones that were often attacked. It gave Roza the chance to prove herself. With the opposition she faced daily that would no doubt multiply if Vasilisa became queen; she needed as many good marks on her record as possible. And with this breakthrough in her medicine, there was a chance that by the time Vasilisa became queen, it could be a possibility that Roza could remain as her guardian. It was slim, but we were holding onto it.

I only hoped that it was worth it. I glanced at my watch. Not much longer until we landed. Until I had Roza safely in my arms I wasn't going to stop worrying. I'd seen Tasha fight, and though Roza was the best I'd ever seen; since she'd fallen pregnant, she wasn't at her best. Still, I knew she was strong enough to keep herself and the baby safe. Once this was over, I wasn't going to leave her side. If that meant I had to quit becoming a guardian, I'd do it. My priority wasn't on saving moroi lives anymore. It was on protecting Roza and our baby. The thought of _our baby_, our daughter Evabrought a smile to my lips. Two words that I'd never expected to hear were now a reality.

Rose POV.

Tasha was dumb. Crazy and dumb, the best possible combination. Or the worst, if she decided that she didn't have anything to lose and did something stupid that would kill us both. We'd been fighting steadily for the past… I didn't even know how long it was. The boost she'd gotten from Adrian's blood was starting to wear off. I'd had the first advantage; the punch had caught her off guard, but she'd recovered quickly. Since then, we'd been trading blows and kicks, one of us gaining the upper hand, then the other.

I'd been right when I'd seen her in the kitchen and guessed that if it came down to a fight, it would be a close match. Thing was, I hadn't been sure which of us would come out on top, and now I was still just as uncertain. But I was determined to win this. It wouldn't be fair for her to win; and I needed to survive. Hell, even if I only survived long enough for them to get me on a life support machine so the baby wouldn't die; I'd be okay with that. She was who I was fighting for. She was who I would win for.

We were fighting in the hallway again. We'd been moving throughout the separate rooms, but it was trickier in them; more space to manoeuvre, but more obstacles to dodge around. Our hallway was wide, with enough space for me to kick her into the opposite wall. I was trying to keep her away from my upper body, my arms were the worst affected. Well, my feet were burnt the worst; but I couldn't feel it any more. So every chance I got, I kicked her. I was hoping to break one of her ribs, and judging from the wince I saw when she stood up, I might have succeeded.

Just then Adrian started to stir. Well, he groaned and rolled over. Tasha saw this too, and my instinct to protect kicked in again. I needed to keep her as far from him as possible.

"Adrian!" He groaned again but didn't move. So I yelled again. "Adrian! Get up and get help!" I'd been able to hold Tasha back for this long, but I'd feel a lot safer if there was another guardian in the room; despite the fact that she was weak, she was still putting up a good fight.

"What do you really think he can do Rose? He's weak, like you. Look at him." Her face had gone red from the effort, and I'm pretty sure mine looked the same; but we both kept fighting. She was trying to edge towards him, probably to drink from him again. If she did, she was no better than a strigoi.

You aren't going to lay another finger on him Tasha. Besides, I thought you came here to finish me off and take Dimitri. It doesn't look like you're doing so well."

Uncertainty played across her face for a second before she bared her fangs and launched herself at me. "_Fine. _You should have taken the brief respite that you'd have gained while I took a small donation." She was in a frenzy, her punches manic and uncoordinated. I was blocking the majority of them, the ones aimed at either my face or stomach, but I needed Adrian out of the house where I knew he was safe before I stopped defending and started attacking her ass.

"ADRIAN! GET OFF YOUR LAZY ARSE AND GET HELP NOW!"

That got him into a sitting position at least. Relief flowed through me and I started to push forward in my blocks, minimising the space Tasha had to move. I'd noticed that she didn't seem to fight so well once her space was cut down. I looked in Adrian's direction to check if he'd left yet, to see that he was _still sitting on the floor_. I caught his eye for a second and he mumbled something that sounded like "Dimitri's almost here." Before his eyes drooped shut and he slumped to the side again.

That idiot! Why hadn't he left when he had the chance? Tasha's fist flew by my cheek reminding me of where I was. I could yell at Adrian later. But my heart felt lighter as I turned back to her. Dimitri was on his way. There was a surge of energy that came from knowing he would be here soon; and he could finally set her crazy head straight.

20 minutes later:

We'd moved into the front room. Tasha had started throwing small fireballs at me. Trying to distract my attention so she could gain some sort of advantage. . I was trying to stay near to the window in the hopes that someone would see the flashes of light and come up to investigate. But our house was on the second floor up. Well it was four floors up because it was a proper house; with an upstairs and downstairs. So it was unlikely anyone would notice.

Another fireball came at me, hard, but this one was directed towards my face. Luckily, her shots had been slowly losing their accuracy, and so I only had to step slightly to the side to dodge it. It slammed into the window; and I heard a small _crack_. "You owe me a new window. I'll send the bill to the padded room they'll keep you in." We had beautiful floor length windows that let light into the whole room. Perfect for sunbathing when I was off duty. But that was now a weak spot, and I didn't want to be anywhere near it.

We were circling once more, focused on beating the other. Her fist flew towards my face again, and I returned the favour. She wasn't pleased that I'd held out this long. Her plan must have been to get in and out as quickly as possible. She should have killed me when she got the chance; trying to gloat and drag it out had turned the odds against her and she knew it.

"Roza?" There were voices in the hall. Dimitri was finally home! "Adrian, what happened where's Roza? Princess, you check on him; Christian, you come with me."

"Dimitri, in the front room!" We were still fighting, despite the fact that we were shouting at the same time.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him burst through the doorway with Christian close behind. "Roza what's goi-"

He trailed off as he took in the scene before him. "Dimka help me! She just doesn't get that you're supposed to be with me. That you want to be my guardian. You love me, not her."

His face was looked shocked, but he shook his head and stepped forwards to help me. But I waved him off. "No comrade. Let me finish this. You can have her when I'm done." He nodded and stepped back again. Tasha was shocked at the fact Dimitri hadn't stepped in to save her; so I took that moment to get a quick jab to her face. Now Dimitri was back, I didn't want to fight. I just wanted to curl up in his arms, knowing I was safe and protected once more.

She focused back on me, and our fight continued. "He won't stay with you Rose. Once he realises how weak you are, how wrong you are for him. I'm his! I'm the one he's supposed to be with. What can you give him? I've said it once and I'll say it again. Nothing! Once you're gone; he'll realise you were just a mistake and move on."

The strength of our hits had increased. We were both fighting for the man we loved. Well I loved him, she was just a crazy obsessed bitch; and neither of us was willing to give him up. I caught sight of Dimitri's face once more as we moved.

Disdain had covered Dimitri's features and his voice was filled with disgust. "What's happened to you Tasha? You're crazy if you think that I'd ever choose you over Rose. I love her Tasha. You know that I love her. Not. You. And I'm not going to even pretend to understand why you'd even entertain the idea that I'd leave her for you. That was never an option, not in that way. I didn't want to be your guardian; I was looking to protect Roza's future as a guardian. I was never supposed to be with you otherwise I'd have been with you by now."

She'd stopped fighting and was staring at Dimitri open mouthed. I should have taken the opportunity to knock her out; but I wanted to hear what else he was going to say. I'd never heard Dimitri speak like this. Yes we'd defended our relationship; but he was never so open, or so brutally honest in front of other people. His words were distracting her; I'd take her out once he was finished.

"Roza isn't a mistake. She never has been, and she never will be. She's not weak Tasha. She's strong, powerful, passionate, caring, breathtakingly beautiful, funny, smart, sexy, and she's the mother of my child. You say that she can't give me anything Tasha. She's given me everything and more! I'd never dreamed that I'd meet someone like this let alone have the chance to spend the rest of my life with her. I'd always wanted a child, but I'd never envisioned it actually coming true. And Rose has done all that. I came back here hoping to find you talking; or by some miracle, realising that what you'd done was a terrible thing to do, you'd decided to give Roza the cure."

His face darkened and he took a step towards her. Dimitri was intimidating just by standing up straight with his guardian mask on; but when he looked at Tasha, I was reminded of just how scary he actually was. The threat and promise was clear in his eyes.

"You're lucky that I've only just arrived back Tasha, and that Rose dealt with you first. Because once she's done; her work will seem like a blessing. I'd say that I hope you rot in prison, but that would be too good for you. So instead, I want you to know that every injury you've inflicted upon Rose. Any sort of discomfort you've caused to her or our baby, I'll deliver back to you in a much, much worse fashion." His voice had lowered and Tasha squeaked slightly before taking a half step back.

So I tapped her on the shoulder, giggling when she jumped with fright and spun in midair to face me. "Hey remember me? Girlfriend to the tall, sexy Russian you just pissed off. Mother to _his_ baby." Those words still brought a smile to my face. "I'm not done."

My fist flew into her face again. I just loved the crunching sound that came from breaking her nose repeatedly. She screamed, but came back at me. "I told you that he didn't love you Tasha. You had so many chances to leave with your head held high. Now you're going to leave in pieces."

The scared look in her eyes was replaced by one I couldn't identify as she took a few steps back. I took my time walking towards her, with Dimitri and Christian standing in the room, she couldn't do anything to hurt me. Until I placed the look. It was like her voice; frantic and desperate, the eyes of a crazy woman.

"If I can't have him, then neither will you Rose." And a steady stream of bright blue flames headed towards my face. Knowing I didn't have time to dodge, I instinctively brought my hands up to shield my face. But the heat never came. I opened my eyes to see Christian had stepped forwards, directing them away from my face before extinguishing them. But Tasha we'd all been transfixed by the flames, too busy to watch Tasha running behind them. So I didn't have anytime to react before I saw her face, pinched with rage, directly in front of me, and her fist connected with my stomach.

The momentum she'd built up from that short distance gave her an incredible amount of power. It was only because I'd been crouched to try and protect my face that gave me a greater sense of balance; allowing me to stumble back only a few steps rather than being pushed over. A choked noise made its way out of Dimitri's throat.

All I could think about was the baby. If she'd survived through what had happened before, I didn't think she could have made it through such a strong punch. My heart was thudding in my chest. We'd been so close, so close to finally having our happy ending. And she'd ruined it.

"You bitch." Was out of my mouth before I could stop it, and she just looked smug, even when I started to run at her. I was wobbly, but the determination was pumping through my veins. If she thought she'd known pain before… My fist was cocked, and I saw as she raised her hands to guard her face. But I didn't punch her. Instead I lifted my leg and put all my weight behind the kick that I sent directly to her ribs.

Stupid bitch was standing too close to the window. The power from my kick and her body weight combined was enough to break the glass that had cracked earlier. Shock was clear across her face as she hung, almost suspended in midair for a second, before she tried to windmill her arms crazily to regain her balance.

Except she failed. And all five of us watched as she fell out of the window and landed; four stories down.

I didn't flinch when she disappeared from my view. I didn't jump when I heard her hit the ground like the others did. I wasn't sure if it was because I was in shock, or because I'd simply gone past the point of hate, to a level where I simply had no feelings whatsoever towards Tasha. Maybe I was channelling Lissa's shock as well as my own.

But once Dimitri came over and wrapped his arms around me. That feeling of safety and security finally encircled me once again; I started to shake and tears leaked out of my eyes. He picked me up gently, and carried me over one of our sofas, still holding me tightly in his arms. He was whispering to me, but I couldn't hear what he was saying. All I knew was that I was snuggled against his chest, held in his arms where I was protected.

Gradually, my hearing returned to normal, and I could make out what he was saying. "You're okay now Roza. I'm so, so sorry that I left you alone unprotected. I'll never do it again, ever. But I'm so proud of you. So, so proud; and I love you. Don't ever forget that Roza. I love you and only you."

Hiccupping slightly, I looked u at him, and he wiped away a few stray tears. "Do you think she could have survived?" The last word was a whisper. I felt terrible for killing her, but I didn't want her alive. She was better off dead. We were safer with her dead."

He nodded, his eyes sad. He hated the thought of taking someone's life as much as I did. And whether she'd tried to kill me or not, a life had been lost today. Something that could have been avoided. "She couldn't have survived that fall Roza. She would have been dead on impact." I closed my eyes, guilt running through me slightly. Life, gone in an instant. "But, if it cam down to it again; I'd rather her than you. His arms tightened round me. I'm sorry that it came to that, and I wasn't here earlier to stop her from doing what she did. But I'd choose this result every time."

"I would too. But it's still such a waste. And I've never felt like that before; holding so much hate towards someone. And it was scary because it was all me. It wasn't Lissa's darkness. Just me. I wanted her to die that much. In that second when she punched my stomach, if I could have gotten close enough to break her neck myself, I would have. I don't ever want to feel like that again."

Is hands moved to rest on my stomach lightly. "You won't Roza. I promise."

My hands rested on top of his, and another load of tears ran down my cheeks. "I'm sorry that I wasn't strong enough to protect our baby. It was our only chance at having a family and I blew it. I tried so hard, but it wasn't enough in the end. I messed up and she paid for it." This time he kissed my tears away.

"Roza, it's not your fault. I'm sorry too. You shouldn't have been left alone unguarded. Please don't blame yourself. You're so strong, and I saw you before. You did everything that you could and more." He kissed my cheek once more. "Don't you dare think that you let anyone down. We'll get through it together. Maybe we just weren't meant to have children together."

And just as he finished speaking, I felt the most wonderful sensation in the world. A tiny nudge underneath both of our hands. Followed by another kick, this one slightly stronger.

Sobs broke out of my chest properly after that. "She's okay. Dimitri, our baby's okay." There were tears down his cheek too, but the grin across his face made it all worthwhile.

"Our little Eva Nasya. Life and Gods miracle. Thank you for giving me this chance. I love you Roza."

"I love you too comrade."

And in that moment, I saw how everything was going to turn out. We'd lost both chances at finding a cure, but like Yeva had said, it didn't matter. We were both happy with the way our lives were turning out. Eva would be born, and our family would be complete. We would have each other and our daughter, something amazing that shouldn't have been possible. Yes, I would get sick from time to time, but with Dimitri's help, I'd recover. Eva would be strong and healthy, surrounded by family and friends who loved her. Adrian wasn't infected, and would lead is life. This experience would change him, and it wouldn't be long before he met someone he would be ready to spend the rest of his life with, and have children with. Lissa and Christian were there already. Wedding in the summer, and kids would be sure to follow. Someone for Eva to play with. And Eddie and Mia? Well, once they got over their nerves and gave the other a chance, they'd be perfect together.

But that was all to come. For now, I was content to simply smile into Dimitri's eyes, feeling our daughter's kicks beneath our hands, waiting for what was to come.

**The End.**

**Thank you so much for reading The Disease; and I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! =]**

Again a huge hug to everyone who reviewed, favourited or alerted this story; **gracefish21**, DarkRomanceAddict, **Crazy Runner**, IloveCeci, **Katherine-Rose-Rulz**, DimitrixXxLover, **Aiko no Kaze**, snowdrop0594, **GoldenIvy**, Baddass Hathaway, **lulumarie02**, RoseElla, **Vampire Crazz**, HappyEndingsAddict, **iloveyoudimitri**, rivereq, **LittleDhampir123**, PeaceRoseG'ladheon, **JennyTran195**, DaughterofPosiden373,

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_**Sneak peak at the sequel to True Love Never Runs Smooth: 'True Love or The End?' (It's posted up now!)**_

The attacks started when I was six and Marie was four. I don't remember much except for the fact that mummy and daddy burst into my room when the sun was high in the sky. Mummy had Marie in her arms and daddy had a few bags in his hands. He was trying to wake me up and get some clothes on over my pyjamas while mummy grabbed my backpack and stated shoving more of my clothes into it. My clothes went in there; along with my favourite book and my teddy that Aunty Lissa bought for me. She picked up a few toys and then daddy scooped me up. I started to realise it wasn't a game anymore. Mummy looked scared while daddy's face was pale and anxious. Then I heard the shouting. There were people in our house and we were trapped upstairs.

Instantly daddy got into a fighting stance like the ones he'd been teaching me; and mummy did the same. He was slightly in front trying to protect all of us, but I knew how much mummy loved him; she wouldn't let him fight alone. A line from their wedding popped into my head. _'Til death us do part.'_ I'd only been four when I heard it; and hadn't understood, but I did now. No matter how much mummy and daddy loved us; there was something between them, a stronger love than I'd ever seen; that made them cling to each other. They were going to fight to save me and Marie; but they were going to do it by each others sides. The only way they would stop was if they were dead.

That was four years ago. We were lucky that time. Mum and dad were able to hold off the people that tried to take me and Marie until Uncle Adrian, Aunty Lissa, Uncle Christian and Uncle Eddie arrived. But it had been close. Mum got hit in the head hard, too hard; and if Aunty Lissa hadn't arrived, mum would have died. And _they_ would have been one step closer to getting us.

The attacks were random, sporadic and always tried to catch us unawares. We found out that they were after Marie because she was the only child conceived between two dhampirs. They wanted me because I was human. A liability. Or an asset in some peoples eyes. They wanted to take me so that when I grew up I could be used as a spy; to find strigoi and pretend that I wanted to work for them, in return for eternal life when I'd finished. And then tell them where the strigoi were and about their plans. Because I was human; I was supposedly selfish and materialistic in this way; and I was supposed to be grateful that they'd allowed mum and dad to keep me; rather than dump me in some adoption agency. Mum and dad always stood up for me though. Told them that I was their son; and that I had every right to know about their world. The world of dhampirs, alchemists and vampires; both Moroi and Strigoi. They would never give me up, and they would never give Marie up. Not so she could be used as a science experiment to see how she came about; and if it could happen again.

Of course _they_ didn't like that; and so the attacks continued.

**If you liked it and want me to continue, then please let me know. It won't be up for a month, because I need to write it up :D**

**Thank you so much for reading! I really do hope you enjoyed it. :') Denicia xx**


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